Brexit should be seen as an opportunity and not a hindrance for those in the UK fighting disputes over unwanted timeshares says a Spanish legal expert.
The claim comes from Adriana Stoyanova, a lawyer with Malaga based M1 Legal, specialists in time-share contract law linked with the UK based European Consumer Claims Ltd.
She says Brexit gives the mediation community an “excellent opportunity to reinvent itself”.“Brexit is most likely to affect disputes where one timeshare party is based in the UK and the other in an EU member state,” said Stoyanova. “Although it is still not clear what would happen if and when Brexit takes place, clients negotiating contracts with UK based companies would be well advised to agree on EU based instead of British jurisdiction.
“This enables them to benefit from EU laws regarding the recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial matters and judicial assistance in document delivery and taking of evidence.”
For example, so far in 2019 M1 Legal has secured 22 victories on jurisdiction against timeshare company Club La Costa who appealed against Spanish court decisions in to try and get the hearings in the UK. But the judge ruled the cases should be heard in Spain which is of greater benefit to UK clients. All 22 cases have now been re-submitted for judgement.
Stoyanova said the harmonised EU regulations covering these matters will likely no longer be applicable to UK jurisdictions after Brexit and could lead to costly time consumption and even parallel proceedings and contradictory judgements.
“The practical steps that all parties involved in cross-border contracts will take into consideration include thinking carefully about potential dispute and enforcement issues, and adopting a ‘conditional’ dispute resolution clause that allows a degree of flexibility as the UK’s position becomes clearer.
“This means to think about mediation and arbitration as an alternative,” added Stoyanova.
“It seems likely that arbitration will be less affected by Brexit, at least from a legal perspective. The legal framework supporting arbitration will remain unchanged, and the separate enforcement mechanisms available for arbitration may offer greater certainty and advantage in comparison to litigation.”
But she added that Brexit gives mediation the opportunity to reinvent itself for a number of reasons: faster than general litigation; cost effective – mediation will be much cheaper than general litigation; protective against legal costs (in the UK) when a valid offer to mediate is made; mediation is confidential, benefiting parties saving their good public image; balances the power; mediation saves the relationships between businesses; it can negotiate payment plans which would keep businesses’ cash flow healthy.
European Consumer Claims Ltd are the UK and Europe’s leading experts in helping to release people from unwanted timeshare contracts and making claims for people to get their money back, assigning cases to their legal experts M1 Legal in Malaga.
If you wish to discuss your timeshare problems or have any other inquiries regarding this story call 0034 951 562 209 or email [email protected]. Visit www.ecc-eu.com