17.01 General

Section 8 of Title II of the Convention deals with the circumstances in which a court is under a duty to ascertain for itself whether a conclusion that it has jurisdiction over the defendant in relation to the claim would be consistent with the Convention. Although in the context of the Brussels Regulation,1 much tended to be made of these provisions, as a demonstration of the respect paid to due process, natural justice and the right to be heard, there are in fact only two sets of circumstance in which the court is obliged to examine the basis (or lack of basis) for its own jurisdiction.