Call for Papers

Final Conference on Small Claims Dispute Resolution for Consumers 2

A European Approach

Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the entire SCAN2 Consortium are pleased to announce the opening of a call for papers to be presented at the final conference of the Small Claims Analysis Net 2 (SCAN2) project on the European Small Claims Procedure that will take place on 22^nd and 23^rd February 2024 in Brussels, Belgium.

Place: TBA

The SCAN2 final conference:

The two main pillars of the SCAN2 final conference will be, first, to present the acquired research results of the SCAN2 project to the public, and second, to bring together international academics, practitioners, doctoral students and citizens through organizing a supranational forum aiming at discussing the latest legal developments on the existing legal remedies for the small claims models of dispute resolutions for consumers within the European Union. Thus, research papers that, in common sense, contribute to the broad body of knowledge in legal analysis of the European models of small claims dispte resolution and online dispute resolution (ODR) will be considered for this conference. Special consideration will be made for the topics discussing the European Small Claims Procedure Regulation 861/2007 (as amended by Reg. 2015/2421). However, we also encourage authors, particularly early-career researchers, to present their academic contributions to the Conference and receive fruitful feedback from the academic panels upon their presentations at the event.

The main Conference themes covers the following areas, including but not exclusive to: 

- small claims remedies for consumers;

- online dispute resolution for small claims;

- cross-border justice for consumers;

- transnational small claims judgment and enforcement challenges;

- consumer privacy and data protection in using technology for resolving small claims;

- the connection among the Brussels Ia Regulation and the Regulations on the European Enforcement Order, the European Small Claims Procedure, the European Payment Order and the European Account Preservation Order and their implementation in national procedural law;

- best national and supranational practices of national small claims proceedings;

- digitalization of small claims proceedings;

- artificial intelligence for small claims procedures;

- different fora for the initiation of the small claims proceedings.

The submission must respect the following envisaged timeline:

21 January 2024        - deadline for abstracts – c.a. 500 words – (1^st stage)

28 January 2024        - notification of abstract acceptance

22-23 February 2024 - paper presentations at the Conference  

31 March 2024          - deadline for final submissions (2^nd stage)

30 April 2024             - notification of acceptance after double-blind peer-review process

30 June 2024          - papers get published in an edited book in the series of the Italian-Spanish Journal of Procedure Law (RIEDP - Revista Italo espanola de derecho procesal).

Background to the SCAN2 project:

The SCAN Project was originally designed to analyse the effectiveness of the European Small Claims Procedure Regulation (ESCP) 861/2007 (as amended by Reg. 2015/2421) through providing a platform for this legislative instrument to highlight its added value. Upon successfully implementing this initiative, the SCAN2 Project aims to improve the enforcement of the ESCP judgments by creating a roadmap of enforcement rules across the 26 EU Member States and simplifying, and most significantly, digitalising enforcement procedures. For more information on the SCAN2 Project visit: https://scan2.vub.be/

Information for the authors

• Submissions are made in a two-stage procedure:
  • in the 1^st stage, abstracts (ca. 500 words) will be evaluated by the Editors to assess their quality and suitability to the overall project;
  • in the 2^nd stage, full submissions will undergo a double, blind peer-review process by appointed, external, anonymous reviewers.
• Full contributions should normally be between 6,000 – 10,000 words; contributions of both shorter and higher word length may also be submitted, subject to negotiation with the editors.
• Upon accepting and presenting the paper to the Conference, the participants will receive the certificate of presentation by the Conference Chair.
• Best paper award for young scholar submission (Master student and PhD candidate)
• Submissions should be made anonymously in English and sent via Easy Chair.
• The Authors will not be reimbursed for their contributions.
• For the latest version of this call for paper, please visit the DIKE Research Group website.
• For any specific academic inquiries, you may contact the Conference Chair Prof. Marco Giacalone at: Marco.Giacalone@vub.be
• For any other inquiries you can contact the Conference Liaisons Ms. Sajedeh Salehi at seyedeh.sajedeh.salehi@vub.be and Ms. Paola Giacalone at: paola.giacalone@vub.be   

Notice: The content of this Conference represents the views of Organisers and speakers only and remains their sole responsibility. The European Commission does not accept any responsibility for the use that may be made of the information it contains.