ABSTRACT
Introduction The jurisdiction of the English courts to entertain civil proceedings is now governed primarily by EC Regulation 44/2001 on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters, which is commonly known as the Brussels I Regulation. 1 The Regulation entered into force on 1 March 2002 in 14 of the 15 states that were then EC member states (the exception being Denmark), on 1 May 2004 for the 10 states that joined the Community on the date, on 1 January 2007 for Bulgaria and Romania, and on 1 July 2007 for Denmark. The Regulation largely replaces the Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968 on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (as amended). 2 Although the Regulation deliberately departs from the Convention in a few important respects, much of the substantial case law of the European Court on the interpretation of the Convention remains applicable to the corresponding provisions of the Regulation. 3 The traditional English law applies only interstitially, where the Regulation remits jurisdiction to the law of the forum country. Such remission occurs, however, in most cases where the defendant is not domiciled in any EC member state (nor, in view of the Lugano Convention, 4 in Switzerland, Norway or Iceland).
