22 Ott Announce by Marco Provvidera from NYC
News from the US: Working Group on “International Discovery and Data Protection” – I am pleased to announce that the American Bar Association Section of International Law Litigation Committee has created, as of September, 2009, a Working Group on “International Discovery and Data Protection”.
The immediate reason to start this group, which is comprised of top professionals and experts from over 20 jurisdictions worldwide, consisted of a number of recent and troubling developments in EU Privacy law as the EU Article 29 Working Party and national data commissioners/authorities turn their attention to personal data transferred from the EU to the US in response to discovery requests in US civil litigation.
The Group’s mission statement is: To monitor the conflict between US discovery practice in international litigation and EU data protection rules, and contribute to resolving such conflict including through: focusing on policy and practical recommendations to the ABA; Develop a model Discovery Plan under applicable Rule 26(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; Examine the possibility of recommending an amendment to the Safe Harbor principles for the “litigation hold”; Make recommendations or guidelines on how judges can take into account EU data privacy laws in the “Aereospatiale” and restatement balancing tests.
The Group is in the process of obtaining accreditation to attend the meeting, which will be held on these issues between the US Commerce Department and the Art. 29 Working Group in Washington DC on November 16-18, 2009.
The Group is establishing official liaisons with each EU country and with other interested opinion groups and task forces (International Technology law Association, Sedona Conference, etc.).
As a member of the Group and of the Section Litigation Committee, it will be my pleasure to keep the IIP posted and updated about the activity of the Group as well as the relevant legislation and policy developments.
– Marco R. Provvidera –
Sector Director IIP
EPA Scientific Board