Limiting National Jurisdiction by Procedural Means

At a global level there is no general rule which limits courts from assuming jurisdiction even in a way which is considered exorbitant by many. This may lead to a jurisdictional conflict of competing jurisdictions as outlined in the preceding chapter. A jurisdictional conflict shows that there is a need to address the issue of competing jurisdictional claims when there is no special rule, for example, European Regulations and Conventions, to solve the conflict, perhaps with a strict application of the lis pendens or res judicata doctrines. It has been outlined that national jurisdiction is determined independently by the national lex fori proceduralis and since the Lotus case¹ no general and substantial limits to national jurisdiction may be found in international law allowing for a variety of agreed limits in Conventions applying to special areas of law.