Lis Alibi Pendens and Related Actions in Civil and Commercial Matters Within the European Judicial Area

This article discusses some of the topics more extensively treated by the author in his work "Litispendenza e connessione internazionale. Strumenti di coordinamento tra giurisdizioni statali in materia civile", Naples, Jovene Editore, 2008. Thereby, it moves form the general features of lis alibi pendens and related actions as instruments of coordination among state jurisdictions to address more closely the European regulation of the subject as contained in EC Regulation No. 44/2001. The study focuses on the main problems raised by the practical implementation of the said regulation, from the determination of the identity of the parties of the two concurrent sets of proceedings, to the determination of the identity of the cause of action. In this respect, the author points to the risk of forum shopping inherent in the broad characterization of the said requirement adopted by the European Court of Justice in its case law. The analysis offered by the article is completed by an assessment of the main proposals for reform of the said regulation as advanced in the Green Paper on the review of the Brussels I Regulation (COM(2009) 175 final), with particular regard to troublesome issues such as the relationship between exclusive choice of forum agreements and lis alibi pendens, the requirement of identity of cause of action in relation to actions for a negative declaration and the specific problems posed by lis pendens, exclusive jurisdiction and related actions in the field of intellectual property.