HAGUE CONVENTION ON CHOICE OF COURT AGREEMENTS TO TAKE EFFECT IN OCTOBER
On 11 June, the Latvian presidency, on behalf of 27 of the 28 European Union (EU) Member States, deposited the instrument of approval of the June 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements (the Hague Convention). The Hague Convention will take effect in the 27 EU Member countries and Mexico on 1 October.
This article considers the purpose of the Hague Convention and its interaction with the jurisdictional rules in Regulation (EU) 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (the Recast Brussels Regulation).
Choice of court agreements
Choice of court agreements, otherwise known as ‘jurisdiction clauses’ or ‘forum selection clauses’, are commonly used in international commercial contracts to state the parties’ intention that a chosen country’s courts are to try any disputes that may arise between them. The agreements aim to provide greater legal certainty to parties in the event of a dispute. This is especially important in the case of cross-border, business-to-business transactions, where high stakes mean that parties can spend considerable time and money battling on jurisdictional issues, which in turn delays resolution of their underlying dispute.
Oct-Dec 2015 issue
Morgan Lewis