Qatar’s Airbus rushes into debate over cross-border legal authority – Middle East Monitor

Airbus and Qatar Airways set off in a London court on Friday over French restrictions on the transfer of evidence abroad as politically sensitive debates over cross-border jurisdiction sparked a high-profile controversy over jet safety. I fought. Reuters Report.

Qatar Airways is suing France-based Airbus for $ 1.4 billion due to damage to the painted surface and lightning protection system of the A350 jet. This is because design flaws can jeopardize safety. Airbus acknowledges quality flaws, but claims that jets are safe.

Airbus prohibits the direct delivery of thousands of documents required by Qatar Airways by a 1968 law prohibiting French companies from handing over confidential economic details to foreign courts without introducing a special mechanism. It states that it has been.

The law was originally designed to resist what France considered to be an intrusive legal requirement from the United States.

The aircraft manufacturer has applied to a British judge for permission to appoint a special commissioner responsible for sending documents to Qatar Airways during the disclosure phase.

Otherwise, plane makers will be exposed to criminal accusations in France under what is commonly referred to as the French “blocking law,” Airbus told court on Friday.

“This is not the whole new, bizarre, or bizarre we are proposing,” its lawyer, Rupert Allen, told a division of the High Court at an online hearing.

Qatar Airways denied the possibility of prosecution and exercised the power of the British courts of both sides to resolve the dispute over the jet airliner contract.

“There was only one (French) prosecution in 54 years,” said Qatar lawyer Philippe Shepherd.

“Compliance with foreign law is not a defense against complying with the requirements of British courts,” he added.

The line of jurisdiction is in the midst of intense political debate in Britain over the rights of British and foreign courts after Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union.

Similar tensions arose last month when the European Court of Human Rights, separate from the EU, blocked Britain’s move to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.

At least one of Boris Johnson’s successors as the British Prime Minister has promised to withdraw from court.

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, who has not run for the Conservative leadership race, said Britain will remain in the ECHR, but “pushing back is legal.”

Airbus said the proposed data commissioner would not consider the evidence before handing it over, but Qatar Airways said it suspected that the appointed person would simply act as a “postbox.”

read: Qatar Airways complains Airbus to A350 skin defects