LAW011-6 – International Commercial Litigation – University of Bedfordshire – 2019

Choice of Court Agreements

The importance of party autonomy in the jurisdictional sphere is important when it comes to
international business and commerce.

Agreement on which jurisdiction to handle future disputes increases predictability, reduces the costs
of litigation and for some parties provides the luxury of a domestic court.

Choice-of-court agreements (also called ‘jurisdiction agreements’ or ‘forum selection agreements’)
are agreements as to where litigation will take place.

If the courts respect them, they enable the parties to know in advance where the case will be
brought.

This in turn makes it possible to plan ahead and to ensure that the terms of the contract, and the
activities that take place under it, will not be regarded as unlawful by the court hearing the case.

Choice-of-court agreements usually confer jurisdiction on a particular court (for example, the Federal
District Court for the Southern District of New York) or the courts of a particular country (for
example, the courts of England).

If the choice-of-court agreement confers jurisdiction on the courts of a non-member State and
proceedings are nevertheless brought in the courts of a Member State, the latter must apply their
own law (including their rules of choice of law) to determine whether the choice-of-court agreement
is valid.