4 Jurisdiction under the Brussels I Regulation Recast

Abstract

This chapter evaluates jurisdiction under the Brussels I Regulation recast. The general rules is that a defendant must be sued in the court of its domicile. However, additional heads of jurisdiction, based on a link between the facts of the case and another jurisdiction, can also be relied on by claimants in certain circumstances. The Court of Justice developed a special approach for employment contracts which was eventually reflected in specific employment rules in the Brussels Convention, Lugano Convention, and later the Brussels I Regulation and Regulation recast. As well as the special rules for employment contracts set out in Section 5 of the Brussels I Regulation recast, Article 7(5), which allocates jurisdiction to the country where the defendant has a branch agency or other establishment, can also be relied on by employees. Following amendment to the Regulation recast, Article 8(1) in relation to the joinder of third parties also applies in employment cases to the benefit of employees. Moreover, the Brussels I Regulation recast sets out rules to allocate proceedings between the courts of Member States. In particular, through Articles 29 and 30, the recast Regulation seeks to minimize the risk of conflicting judgments by providing rules to deal with situations where there are parallel or related proceedings in different Member States.