Other grounds of jurisdiction
The Regulation contains two additional grounds of jurisdiction that might be relevant in particular cases.
According to Article 4 the court in which proceedings are pending on the basis of Article 3 shall also have jurisdiction to examine a counterclaim, insofar as the latter comes within the scope of this Regulation.
Article 5 deals with the conversion of legal separation into divorce and takes account of the fact that under the law of certain member states (e.g. Italy) legal separation is a required preliminary step to divorce (for further information please see Question A. 1 of the national sections). Article 5 provides that a court of a member state that has given a judgment on a legal separation shall also have jurisdiction for converting that judgment into a divorce, if the law of that member state so provides.