Conflict of laws

It was for the national court to assess whether there was a connection between the different claims brought before it, that was to say a risk of irreconcilable judgments if those claims were determined separately and in that regard to take account of all necessary factors in the case file which might, if appropriate, yet without its being necessary for the assessment, take into consideration the legal basis of the actions brought before that court. A claimant had to show that there was a serious issue to be tried as between themselves and the anchor defendants.

That was because, if the court concluded that the claim against the co-defendant was not seriously arguable, then it was unlikely to be expedient to determine it together with the claim against the anchor defendant since there was no sufficiently arguable claim to found the requisite connection, and there was unlikely to be any risk of irreconcilable judgments since, even if