Choice of Court Agreements

Citation

Beaumont P & Keyes M (2022) Choice of Court Agreements. In: Beaumont P & Holliday J (eds.) A Guide to Global Private International Law. First ed. Hart Studies in Private International Law, Vol 32. Oxford: Hart Publishing, pp. 393-406. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781509932085.ch-028

Abstract
Cross-border commercial activity has become commonplace. This activity is secured by contracts, which now typically include dispute resolution terms. The parties may select from a range of forms of dispute resolution, including litigation, arbitration and mediation. This chapter deals with the parties’ selection of litigation as the means of dispute resolution, demonstrated by a choice of court agreement designating the forum in which disputes can be resolved. The 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements (the Choice of Court Convention) was the first formal outcome of the original Hague Judgments Project, which commenced in 1992.[1] It regulates both jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments. This chapter focuses on the jurisdictional provisions of the Choice of Court Convention.[2] This chapter is structured as follows: section II considers the definition of exclusive choice of court agreements under the Choice of Court Convention, particularly considering whether there is a separate requirement of agreement as a precondition to the operation of the Convention, and the Convention’s provisions on formal and substantive validity. Section III addresses the legal effects of exclusive choice of court agreements under the Convention, considering first the effect on the jurisdiction of the courts designated in the choice of court agreement, and then the obligations of the courts which were not designated by the parties. Section IV concludes.

Keywords
private international law; party autonomy; contract