Abstract

The author considers the relevance of the human rights protection in the context of the European cooperation in civil matters, and more specifically with reference to those European instruments setting rules on jurisdiction of the Member States courts. Rules providing for, or excluding, juris-diction, in fact, have an impact on the right of access to courts, and ultimately on the right to a fair trial. In that context, the jurisprudence of the European court of human rights is examined, in order to indentify the key elements of the right of access to courts, and of the conditions under which limitations can be legitimately imposed. The principles underlying the European system of civil ju-risdiction are then highlighted: the jurisdictional criteria posed by the EU instruments are identified to respond to a balancing approach between opposing interests of plaintiffs and respondents. The legitimacy of their solutions is confirmed, even though areas still exist where improved solutions may be envisaged.