Drouot Assurances SA v Consolidated Metallurgical Industries and Ors - European Court of Justice (C Gulmann, President of Chamber and Judges M Wathelet, J C Moitinho de Almeida, D A O Edward and L Sevon)(Advocate General N Fennelly) - 19 May 1998

Court of Justice - Article 21 of Brussels Jurisdiction Convention - Whether second Court should decline jurisdiction on ground of lis alibi pendens - Whether proceedings were between ‘the same parties’

A barge carrying cargo from Rotterdam to a French port on the Rhine foundered in Netherlands inland waters. The hull insurers had the barge refloated at their own expense, and brought proceedings in France against inter alios the cargo owners and the cargo insurers, seeking to recover payment of a sum set by the average adjuster as the contribution of the cargo owners and cargo insurers to the general average.