The Convention of Choice of Court Agreements, which
the Hague Conference on Private International Law finished in 2005, received a
much needed and deserved boost recently when Singapore signed it. To date, only three other states have signed:
the United States, Mexico, and the European Union. Only Mexico has ratified it so far,
although the European Union is expected to do so soon. At least two states must ratify it before it enters into
force.
The
Convention aims to ensure the effectiveness of choice of court clauses, also
known as forum selection clauses, in international, cross-border contracts. The Convention obligates the courts of the
jurisdiction specified in the contract to accept jurisdiction, and obligates
courts of jurisdictions not chosen by the contracting parties to decline
jurisdiction. As well, courts in
contracting states must recognize and enforce judgments issued by the court
chosen by the contracting parties. The
Convention applies in international cases to civil and commercial contracts, but
exempts employment, consumer, and certain other types of contracts. It applies
to contracts with exclusive choice of court clauses, i.e. clauses that require,
not merely permit, disputes to be litigated in the courts of a specific
jurisdiction.
This Convention
would benefit Canadians and Canadian businesses as much as anyone else, and
thus it is to be hoped that Canada will sign and ratify the Convention soon
too.
No comments:
Post a Comment