By Juliette Huard-Bourgois and Swati Tripathi, King & Wood Mallesons’ London Office

The conduct of international arbitration proceedings, from enforcement of arbitration agreements to enforcement of arbitral awards, sometimes involves actions before the courts. In the European Union (EU), international arbitration has to co-exist, not only with national procedural law in each jurisdiction, but also with EU procedural law, which harmonises jurisdiction and enforcement rules amongst the EU states.

EU procedural harmonisation is orchestrated through the application by each EU State of Council Regulation (EC) 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (hereafter the “Brussels Regulation”). The objective of the Brussels Regulation is the creation of an EU area of justice, where parallel court proceedings are prevented and judicial decisions can circulate easily.
Continue Reading Recast Brussels Regulation: a Brighter Future for Arbitration in the EU