This article focuses on the problems of jurisdiction in cross-border civil proceedings concerning an alleged violation of personality rights. There are no specific rules on jurisdiction for such torts in European Union law. In the current case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), Art. 7(2) of the Brussels I bis Regulation is applicable to such disputes. Nevertheless, the authors argue that the CJEU has misinterpreted this article when the claim is based on violation of personality rights, and has thus created a legal chaos in such disputes. The authors analyse the peculiarities of Internet infringements and the locus delicti connecting factor in the case law of the CJEU in this area. The Court has adopted the criterion of ‘centre of interests’ as the major connecting factor to establish international jurisdiction. The authors criticize this approach and argue that it has led to a structural misunderstanding of the infringement of personality rights. Finally, the authors propose a new rule on jurisdiction in cases concerning violation of personality rights, which should be established in the Brussels I bis Regulation to ensure legal certainty and proper international dispute settlement.

The main objective of this study is to highlight the performance of beams composed of lightweight concretefilled steel tubes (square and circle sections) composite with reinforced concrete deck slab. A total of nine composite beams were tested included two circular and seven square concrete-filled steel tubes. Among the nine composite beams, one beam, S20-0-2000, was prepared without a deck slab to act as a reference specimen. The chief parameters investigated were the length of the specimen, the compressive strength of the concrete slab, and the effect of the steel tube section type. All beams were tested using the three-point bending test with a concentrated central point load and simple supports. The test results showed that the first crack in the concrete deck slab was recorded at load levels ranging from 50.9% to 77.2% of the ultimate load for composite beams with square steel tubes. The ultimate load increased with increasing the compressive strength of the concrete slab. Shorter specimens were more stiffness than the other specimens but were less ductile. The slip values were equal to zero until the loads reached their final stages, while the specimen S20-55-1100 (short specimen) exhibited zero slip at all stages of the load. The ultimate load of the hollow steel tube composite beam was 13.2% lower than that of the reference beam. Moreover, the ductility and stiffness of the beam were also higher for beams with composite-filled steel tubes.