Harmonisation of civil procedure and the interaction with private international law

Traditionally, private international law and civil procedural law are separate disciplines. Even today, many proceduralists seem not to be fully acquainted with the area of private international law, while many private international law experts lack thorough knowledge of (harmonised) civil procedure. However, modern private international law is closely interwoven with civil procedure. Firstly, harmonisation of private international law may be viewed as a preliminary stage in the harmonisation of civil procedure. Secondly, and in connection with the previous point, harmonisation of private international law rules may result in a spontaneous approximation of civil procedure. Thirdly, the harmonisation of private international law rules and civil procedure are dependent upon each other and go hand in hand. Particularly in the EU, there seems to be a gradual shift from harmonising private international law to harmonising civil procedure, by means of establishing minimum standards of civil procedure and introducing uniform European procedures. The lessons learnt from the more advanced harmonisation of private international law could benefit the process of approximation of civil procedure. As long as true common standards of civil procedure are not established, private international law rules will remain to be the primary object of harmonisation.

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