This new Convention will replace the 1988 Lugano Convention currently in force, mirroring the provisions of EC Regulation 44/2001 on the same matters.
The main features of the revised Convention concern the regulation on the court of jurisdiction and the jurisdiction over consumer contracts, but other significative changes, as reported by the Swiss Federal Ministry of Justice, ‘were made in the following areas: special jurisdiction in company law, lis pendens and the consolidation of related actions, and in matters regarding exequatur proceedings. Other less significant changes were made in the areas: agreement conferring jurisdiction, employment contracts, jurisdiction relating to torts, the passive joinder of proceedings, action on a warranty or guarantee, action for breach of warranty, action in opposition to the execution of a judgement , insurance matters, exclusive jurisdiction regarding immovable property and intellectual property litigation, as well as defence on the substance of an action. The revised Lugano Convention largely assumes the numbering of the articles of the Brussels I Regulation.’
The European Court of Justice, moreover, answered a request made by the Council of the European Union on 7 February 2006, clarifying that the Community has exclusive competence to conclude a new convention on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.
IDI Editorial Board
