Summary
Pursuant to Article 27 of Regulation (EC) No 44/2001, in case of lis pendens between Italian proceedings – which have been initiated to obtain a negative declaration seeking to establish that no damages are due – and German proceedings – which have been subsequently initiated for the quantification of the same damages – the Italian court, as the court first seised, has authority to establish whether it has jurisdiction. For this purpose, in addition to any action taken by the court on its own motion, the parties may also exercise all rights granted to them by the law, including the right to obtain from the Supreme Court of Cassation a preliminary ruling on the existence of jurisdiction pursuant to Article 41 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Italian courts do not have jurisdiction over an action for a declaration that no damages are due if said action has been brought against a company having its seat in Germany and concerns certain activities carried out by German companies in Germany, where the consequences of such activities also occurred.