Summary:

In the article the author provides insight into the development of judicial cooperation between Member States of the EC / EU and EFTA, which culminates in the adoption of the new Lugano Convention on jurisdiction and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, and its entry into force with effect from 1 January 2010. The author focuses on the mutual coexistence of the Brussels Convention and Lugano Convention of the 1988. The article deals also with the process of the revision of the Conventions and with the impact of changes under the influence of the Amsterdam Treaty. The last part of the article is devoted to the scope of the new Lugano Convention (material, territorial and temporal), with special emphasis on the relationship between the new Lugano Convention and regulation Brussels I.