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.

Erlis Themeli holds a LL.M. in International and Comparative Private Law from the University of Groningen. He has worked for the High Council of Justice in Albania, and practiced law in one of the largest law firms in the country. In 2017, Erlis concluded his PhD research on the EU civil justice system competition. Since September 2017, he is conducting a postdoc research on the digitalisation of justice, at the Erasmus School of Law, Rotterdam.