Issue 4 Exclusive jurisdiction clauses

As Chief Magistrate I also exercised exclusive jurisdiction over applications under the Gaming and Betting Acts.

Conditions for the validity of exclusive jurisdiction clauses

Should the draft instrument allow for exclusive jurisdiction clauses?

Should exclusive jurisdiction clauses be enforceable against third parties?

Conclusions reached by the Working Group regarding exclusive jurisdiction clauses

The recommendations adopted by the Committee are without prejudice to the right of the troop contributing countries to exercise exclusive jurisdiction over their own contingents.

The workload of a court would also clearly be more limited if it exercised concurrent jurisdiction with national courts rather than exclusive jurisdiction.

Overall, religious Courts have an exclusive jurisdiction over all matters of marriage and divorce, except when the couple is not affiliated to any religion or of different religions.

That will create certain problems of interpretation regarding the application of the principle of exclusive international jurisdiction.

Because competition agencies appear to have a comparative advantage over regulators when it comes to enforcing prohibitions of anti competitive behaviour and reviewing mergers, such agencies should have exclusive jurisdiction in those domains, or at least retain concurrent jurisdiction along with a regulator.

The jurisdiction of a court chosen in accordance with paragraph 1 is exclusive for disputes between the parties to the contract only if the parties so agree and the agreement conferring jurisdiction

With regard to the language on exclusive jurisdiction, it is our interpretation that it does not affect the universal jurisdiction of Member States in areas such as war crimes, torture and terrorism.

In this connection, it was pointed out that, in order to be effective, an exclusive jurisdiction clause must bind third parties.

It was suggested that this provision should be revisited once the Working Group has made its decision regarding exclusive jurisdiction clauses.

It was suggested that the problem could be rendered less troublesome by allowing the adoption of an exclusive jurisdiction clause by the parties.

The contrary view was expressed, that exclusive jurisdiction clauses should never apply to third parties, since they were not parties to the contract.

However, concern was also expressed that recourse to arbitration might hinder the application of the rules of the draft instrument on exclusive jurisdiction.

It was thought that in situations where it was found acceptable for jurisdiction to be exclusive, it should be exclusive for all purposes under the contract of carriage, regardless of who is claiming the benefit under the contract.

A note of caution was raised regarding the possibility of overstating the importance of including or excluding exclusive jurisdiction clauses in the draft instrument.

If the shipper and the carrier agree that a competent court has jurisdiction to decide disputes that may arise under this Convention, then that court has non exclusive jurisdiction, provided that the agreement conferring it is concluded or documented

Among the major multilateral institutions, the WTO maintains jurisdiction over trade.

While it was admitted that there was a danger that exclusive jurisdiction clauses could pose a danger in adhesion contracts, it was submitted that when contracts were freely negotiated there were strong commercial reasons for making the choice of court provisions exclusive.

Furthermore, we assert the Iraqi people's right to have exclusive control over their natural resources.

It is clear that no single United Nations organ has an exclusive mandate over those issues.

The Working Group considered the general question of whether the draft instrument should allow for parties to the contract of carriage to agree to an exclusive jurisdiction clause.

It was suggested that provisions could be included in the draft instrument requiring that certain conditions be fulfilled prior to the valid exercise of an exclusive jurisdiction clause.

A State Party may also establish its jurisdiction over any such offence when

A smaller number of delegations expressed the strongly held view that the draft instrument should not allow parties to a contract of carriage to agree to exclusive jurisdiction clauses.

Further, it was noted that this issue was of such importance in some jurisdictions that there were domestic provisions in place to override the operation of exclusive jurisdiction clauses.

It was suggested that it would be difficult to support an exclusive jurisdiction clause that might allow the carrier in some situations to dictate jurisdiction, particularly where a remote geographic location and the costs of litigating disputes could put cargo interests at a disadvantage.

It was suggested that exclusive jurisdiction clauses were quite common in the commercial context, since they provided a means to increase predictability and to reduce overall costs for the parties.

It was suggested that the requirement that an exclusive jurisdiction clause be expressly agreed might negate the perceived need to limit their validity to proposed new article 88a volume contracts.

Concern was raised that the application of exclusive jurisdiction clauses to third parties would unfairly take away their right to choose the forum from the options in draft article 72.

(d) How the Statute would confer jurisdiction over serious crimes with an international character.

The statute will require a provision or provisions which confer jurisdiction over international crimes.

In addition, jurisdiction over sexual abuse taking place outside the Netherlands has been expanded.

Accordingly, it was indicated that the goal of the draft subparagraph 83 (b)(ii) was to allow for arbitration agreements in those cases where an exclusive jurisdiction clause would be recognized under draft article 76 of the draft convention, relating to the recognition of exclusive choice of court clauses.

Several competing plans emerged from the different Congressional committees that have jurisdiction over the issue.

In light of the thrust of the discussions in the Working Group with respect to jurisdiction and choice of court clauses under draft article 76, the view was expressed that exclusive arbitration clauses should be permissible and should be enforced on the same grounds as exclusive choice of court clauses.

As High Court Judge, I exercised jurisdiction over all indictable matters coming before the High Court.

However, there was also support for the suggestion that the Working Group could decide on whether or not to include draft paragraph 72 (e) independently of its decision regarding an exclusive jurisdiction clause.

In addition, Brazil also was not in a position to support operative paragraph 6, through which the Council recognizes the existence of exclusive jurisdiction, a legal exception that is inconsistent in international law.

It was also recalled that there had been an exchange of views with respect to the relationship between exclusive jurisdiction clauses and draft paragraph 72 (e) regarding the designation in the transport document of a place of jurisdiction as an additional choice of forum (see above, paras. 123 to 124).

It should respect the sovereign rights and jurisdiction of coastal States over maritime zones under their jurisdiction, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.