Introduction -

Regulation 44/2001 (the “Original Brussels Regulation”), which aimed to harmonise the approach to jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments across European Union Member States’ courts, has been revised extensively by Regulation 1215/2012 (the “Recast Brussels Regulation”). The Recast Brussels Regulation applies to proceedings instituted on or after 10 January 2015, and the Original Brussels Regulation continues to apply to prior proceedings (per Article 66(1) and (2) of the Recast Brussels Regulation).

One of the changes in the Recast Brussels Regulation alters the approach to jurisdiction selection clauses and, as a result, impacts on the service of documents in English court proceedings on defendants domiciled outside the EU.