The Great Race of Courts: Civil Justice System Competition in the European Union

For some years now, certain EU Member States have been promoting their national courts as the best places to litigate cross-border commercial disputes. This has led to a competition between jurisdictions, which recently has been re-energised by the upcoming withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU. This civil justice competition affects, among other things, governments' policies, court organisation, and cross-border litigation strategies. Building on an interdisciplinary methodology, this book offers an in-depth theoretical and empirical research analysing the competition currently taking place between civil justice systems. It focuses in particular on the motivations and attitudes of governments and litigants, and presents the findings of a survey conducted with lawyers from the largest law firms in Europe. Contributing to the current debates in a novel way, this research will be a go-to-point for academics, policymakers and practitioners across the EU.

Chapter 1 Introduction; Chapter 2 Competition, regulatory competition, and choice-making; Chapter 3 Freedom of choice, harmonisation, and the competition of jurisdictions in the EU; Chapter 4 Civil justice systems competition in the EU; Chapter 5 An empirical overview of the civil justice system competition in the EU; Chapter 6 Conclusions