ABSTRACT
Except where the exclusive jurisdiction rules of Art 16 apply, a court of a Contracting State will have jurisdiction if the defendant submits to the jurisdiction of that court by entering an appearance, unless he does so to contest the jurisdiction.129 Clearly, he must contest jurisdiction at the outset; he cannot wait to see how things go on the substantive dispute before he makes up his mind. In English civil procedure, there will be submission to jurisdiction if the defendant instructs a solicitor to accept service on his behalf and he then does so. If the defendant appears to contest the jurisdiction but, also, with the intention of defending on the merits if his objection is rejected, then this is not submission. From the perspective of the court, two matters have to be kept separate: (a) the jurisdiction of the court to determine the scope of its jurisdiction; and (b) the jurisdiction of the court on the merits.
