The rules on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgment, contained in the Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968 on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial matters, form part of the Community legal order because the Court of Justice of the European Communities has been given competence to ensure a uniform interpretation of this text. This article therefore reviews recent developments in the case law of the Court on this subject.
The author first of all discusses the interpretation given in relation to the scope of application of the Convention, both from the point of view of defining the concept of 'civil and commercial matters' and also as concerns the international scope of application of the text. He then considers the decisions which relate to the rules of special jurisdiction provided in the Convention, which concesn the determination of the place of performance of a contractual obligation, the place where a branch is established and the place where the harmful event occurred as well as the definition of a counterclaim, since a defendant may be sued in a court which is seised of such a claim. Finally, the author analyses two recent decisions, one of which elaborates on the notion of pending actions within the meaning of the Convention, while the other deals with the question whether a judicial settlement must be considered, for the purposes of the Convention, as forming an obstacle to the enforcement of decisions handed down in another Contracting State.
European Review of Private Law