Cross Border Litigation & Jurisdiction Rules for Defendants in Europe

Introduction

Do you need to determine whether the English and Welsh courts can hear a claim against a European defendant?

If the claimant needs permission, how easy is it obtain it?

As the European Union’s Judgments Regulation ceased to apply a few years ago, suing European defendants in the English and Welsh courts will often require a successful application to the court before the claim form can be issued. But there are exceptions: knowing when these apply will save time and costs.

What You Will Learn

This short webinar will cover the following:

• The process for obtaining permission, including the new gateways introduced in 2022
• Challenges to grants of permission to issue by defendants after service
• Claims that do not require permission to issue
• A detour to the Netherlands: the Hague Convention, Choice of Courts Agreements 2005
• Jurisdiction challenges 1 - the jurisdictional gateways (Four Seasons Holdings Incorporated v Brownlie and Manek v IIFL (Wealth) UK Limited)
• Jurisdiction challenges 2 - the process for challenging the forum and the substantial risk of injustice overlay (the Fundao dam case; Al Aggad v Al Aggad; plus Lungowe v Vedanta Resources plc, applied in Mousavi-Khalkai v Abrischamchi)
• Cases referring to the sections inserted in the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 post Brexit relating to consumer and employment claims