For the July issue of the Assagenti Newsletter, Pietro Campanelli analysed two recent judgments, one from the English Commercial Court and one from the Court of Justice of the European Union, concerning asymmetric forum selection clauses.
In international contracts, it is common to include clauses designating the competent forum for the resolution of any disputes between the parties. In most cases, such clauses grant, on an equal basis, both contracting parties the option to bring proceedings before one or more jurisdictions as an alternative to the jurisdiction or jurisdictions that would otherwise be competent under the law applicable to the contract. However, in some instances these clauses may operate differently for the parties to the relationship, providing that one party accepts a specific jurisdiction and is bound by it, while granting the other a more or less extensive freedom to bring proceedings before two or more different jurisdictions. These are, in fact, “asymmetric” or “unilateral” jurisdiction clauses.
