Arbitration Agreements and Jurisdiction in Terms of the Judgments Regulation

Abstract

In order to determine whether a dispute falls within the scope of Regulation (EC) 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, it is necessary to clarify to which proceedings the scope of application of the Regulation is to be determined more specifically. In a recent judgment the European Court of Justice had to decide on the compatibility of anti-suit injunctions with the Regulation to give effect to an arbitration agreement. The court held that, if the subject-matter of the dispute falls within the scope of the Regulation, then a preliminary issue concerning the applicability of an arbitration agreement, including in particular its validity, also falls within the scope of the Regulation. This article is a detailed analysis and a critique of the ECJ judgment.