(144) If the court before which proceedings against the supervisory authority's decision are pending has reason to believe that proceedings for the same processing - for example, on the same subject matter in connection with processing carried out by the same controller or by the same processor, or with respect to the same cause - have been initiated before a court with jurisdiction in another member state, it should contact that court to confirm whether such related proceedings are taking place. If related proceedings are pending before a court in another member state, any court other than the court before which the proceedings were first instituted may stay the proceedings or may, at the request of one of the parties, declare its lack of jurisdiction in favor of the court before which the proceedings were first instituted, if that court has jurisdiction over the case and its law permits the consolidation of such related proceedings. Proceedings are considered related if the connection between them is so close that it is expedient to hear and decide them together, so as to avoid the risk of conflicting judgments in separate proceedings.