international labor rights case law 3 (2017) 315-326 brill.com/ilarc
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24 Supreme Court of the Netherlands: European Patent Organisation & the State of the Netherlands v Vakbondsunie van het Europees Octrooibureau (veob) & Staff Union of the European Patent Office (suepo), Case No. 15/02186, 20 January 2017
Decision-making body: Supreme Court of the Netherlands Case details: European Patent Organisation & the State of the Netherlands v Vakbondsunie van het Europees Octrooibureau (veob) & Staff Union of the European Patent Office (suepo), Case No. 15/02186, 20 January 2017 Primary legal issues: Immunity of international organizations; collective worker rights Applicable legal provisions: Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights; Article G of the European Social Charter; ilo Convention concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, 1948 (No. 87); ilo Convention concerning the Application of the Principles of the Right to Organise and to Bargain Collectively, 1949 (No. 98) Link to case: https://www.rechtspraak.nl/Organisatie-en-contact/Organisa tie/Hoge-Raad-der-Nederlanden/Supreme-court-of-the-Netherlands/Docu ments/Verdict.pdf
Summary
A plea of immunity by an international organization—the European Patent Office (epo)—should be rejected, a Dutch Appeals Court held, if the essence
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Decision
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3 Basis for the Cassation Proceedings
3.1 In cassation, the following can be taken to have been established.
(i) The Organisation is a legal person under public international law es- tablished in 1973 by the Convention on the Grant of European Patents (Dutch Treaty Series 1975, 108, and 1976, 101; ‘the epc’). The epc entered into effect for the Netherlands on 7 October 1977. The Organisation has 38 member states (Contracting States) and has its seat in Munich. One of the organs of the Organisation, the European Patent Office, is located in Munich with a branch in Rijswijk. (ii) Article 4 of the epc provides as follows: 1. ‘A European Patent Organisation, hereinafter referred to as the Or- ganisation, is established by this Convention. It shall have adminis- trative and financial autonomy.
international labor rights case law 3 (2017) 315-326