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ดุลพาห

(2) International comparison

Japanese law does not provide specific rules to coordinate international

parallel litigations. Nonetheless, there is a possibility that Japanese courts may
avoid international parallel litigations by self-restricting assertion of international

jurisdiction pursuant to the special circumstances doctrine under Article 3-9 of the
JCCP, which is in line with the common law principles of forum non conveniens.

The Tokyo District Court in the Masaki Bussan case declined to exercise its
jurisdiction by applying the special circumstances test in the case where there were

parallel litigations in California and Tokyo .
100
In contrast, the EU adopts the “first to file” doctrine or the lis pendens rules to

regulate international parallel litigations. Article 29 of the Brussels I (recast) provides
that, “where proceedings involving the same cause of action and between the same

parties are brought in the courts of different Member States, any court other than the
court first seised must stay its proceedings until such time as the jurisdiction of the

court first seised is established.” This approach gives priority to the court seised first
to proceed with adjudication and the court seised second must decline jurisdiction in

favor of the court seised first.

III. Interests in Jurisdiction

In order to assess whether the existing jurisdictional rules are suitable and
justifiable, it is necessary to identify the policy interests and factors underlying the

law of jurisdiction. Ralf Michaels summarizes that there are three types of interests
which can serve as legitimate bases for the establishment and delimitation of

adjudicatory jurisdiction .
101

100. Tokyo District Court, January 29, 1991, 1390 Hanji 98. Nishitani, “International Jurisdiction of
Japanese Courts,” 272.
101. See Ralf Michaels, “Jurisdiction, foundations,” chap. J.2 in Encyclopedia of Private International
Law, edited by Jürgen Basedow et al., 1043-1051. Cheltenham and Northampton: Edward Elgar Pub
lishing, 2017.

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