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The article discusses a decision made by the Portuguese Supreme Court regarding compensation for domestic work in a de facto union. The court ruled that when one partner exclusively or primarily performs domestic work and cares for children without compensation, it results in the impoverishment of that partner and unjust enrichment of the other partner. The court argued that this imbalance in tasks cannot be considered a natural obligation and requires a fair division of labor. The decision references legal scholars who recognize the economic value of housework and the need for compensatory mechanisms in cases of disproportionate contributions to family expenses. [Extracted from the article]

On 4 March 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU or Court) issued a preliminary ruling on the application of the Environmental Liability Directive (Directive 2004/35/EC; ELD). The ELD established an administrative law regime aimed at the prevention and remediation of environmental damage, including land (soil) damage. Case C-534/18 concerns soil pollution. The CJEU was asked whether the ELD permits Member States to order the owner of a polluted site to fund or to conduct safety and decontamination measures on that site even if they did not cause the pollution. This question is relevant in a comparative law perspective because Member States may impose more stringent provisions in relation to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage under the ELD, including the identification of additional activities subject to the prevention and remediation requirements of the Directive and the identification of additional responsible parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the problems arising from multilingualism and the harmonization of European private law. Equal respect for all the official languages is seen as an expression and the realization of the principle of democracy. It explores how multilingualism becomes a source of problems, particularly in drafting, translating and interpreting documents produced by the European institutions in all of the various official languages.

The article analyzes the provisions of the 2010 Chinese Tort Law with regards to environmental pollution. According to the authors, the Tort Law seems to represent China's commitment to address environmental pollution problems. They state that it also emphasizes the country's belief that environmental concerns have considerable implications on economies. They add that, whether the statute has been applied in practice and not just in theory, will be determined in a few years time.

The third contribution to the symposium held at Ghent addresses the issue of a common legal terminology in Europe. In doing so, the author also presents first results of a research into that question undertaken last year. In particular, she discusses the following topics: the concept of contract; defects of consent; the discharge of a contractual relationship; and the impact of Community directives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the book is presented including the problems of drafting and translating European Union (EU) documents and the development of a legal lingua franca and another on the impact of legal terminology used by EU directives on national consumer law.