Brussels, 17/01/2006 (Agence Europe) - During the first half of 2006, the Academy of European Law (ERA), in cooperation with the Austrian Presidency, will organise a number of conferences addressing the diverse issues at the forefront of legal and ethical debate. The first, to be held in Innsbruck on 15-17 May, will focus on the responsibility of parents in cross-border divorce and maintenance cases. The second, in Vienna on 29-30 May, will concentrate on the patenting of biotechnological inventions. The third, to be held also in Vienna on 26-28 June, will explore the theme of restorative justice and mediation between victims and perpetrators of crime. Austrian Justice Minister and Head of the European Union Council of Justice Ministers Karin Gastinger will launch the cooperation with the keynote speech at the ERA annual reception in Brussels on 20 February.
Several seminars of interest to professionals will allow scrutiny of the European Commission's latest proposals. These include the REACH chemicals legislation, in Trier on 2-3 February; the new Green Paper on damages and private enforcement in European competition law, in Brussels on 9 March; and the revision of the “TV without frontiers” directive, in Brussels on 7-8 June. A seminar in Trier on 4-5 May will examine plans for the EU Fundamental Rights Agency. With EU governments cooperating ever more intensively in the field of criminal justice, a conference on 7 April will discuss proposals for the introduction of a European Criminal Law Ombudsman to protect defendants' and citizens' rights.