Jurisdiction: Games without frontiers

Jamie Curle and Camilla Macpherson provide some pointers on drafting jurisdiction clauses from recent case law ‘The English courts will seek to give effect to the parties’ agreement on jurisdiction in the absence of strong reasons for departing from that agreement.’ As deals become ever more complex and global, the courts are increasingly being asked …
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Jurisdiction: Competing interests

Brett Frankle examines the courts’ approach to concurrent proceedings and the factors that will be taken into account ‘The court will look to see, among other things, how closely connected to this jurisdiction the family in question is, where the assets are, and what the alternative would be if the court declined to deal with …
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C v C [2015] EWHC 2699 (Ch)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | March 2016 #157

The claimant applied under the Variation of Trusts Act 1958 to vary the trusts of four family settlements and for the compromise of an issue as to the validity of the two most recent of those settlements. Three of the settlements, one made in 1932 and two in 1996, were governed by English law. The fourth settlement, made in 1950, was governed by Kenyan law. The 1932 and 1950 settlements were made by the first defendant’s late father. The 1996 settlements were discretionary settlements made by the first defendant.

The claimant and defendants were each trustees and/or...

Jurisdiction: Trust in Fiona Trust?

Davina Given and Ed Holmes report on recent developments in the Court of Appeal ‘Based on detailed analysis of both the terms of business agreement (ToBA) and the framework agreement, the Court of Appeal held that AmTrust had shown… that the arbitration clause in the framework agreement did not extend to matters subject to the …
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Jurisdiction: Multi-tasking

David Capps outlines an ECJ decision looking at the priority of jurisdictional grounds as between contract and tort under the Brussels Regulation ‘Civil liability claims made in tort under national law must be considered as falling within the contractual basis for jurisdiction under Art 5(1)(a).’In the case of Marc Brogsitter v Fabrication de Montres Normandes …
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Jurisdiction: Any time, any place, anywhere

Ryan Deane outlines a recent decision on jurisdiction ‘The English courts seem willing to stretch the concept of proximity in cases where payment under a contract is the characteristic obligation.’ Article 5(1) of EC Regulation 44/2001 (the Regulation) allows a person domiciled in a member state to be sued in another member state ‘in matters …
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Jurisdiction: Courting certainty

Conrad Walker and Helen Rowlands report on a recent High Court ruling clarifying the scope of ‘proceedings’ and ‘court’ in Articles 27 and 30 of the Lugano Convention ‘The English court has not adopted a very technical approach to the meaning of “proceedings” and “court”, but a pragmatic one.’The Lugano Convention governs issues of jurisdiction …
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Jurisdiction: Courting certainty

Conrad Walker and Helen Rowlands report on a recent High Court ruling clarifying the scope of ‘proceedings’ and ‘court’ in Articles 27 and 30 of the Lugano Convention ‘The English court has not adopted a very technical approach to the meaning of “proceedings” and “court”, but a pragmatic one.’The Lugano Convention governs issues of jurisdiction …
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Jurisdiction: When you’re tired of London…

Andrew Hearn assesses the process and pitfalls for international litigants in the Commercial Court ‘If potentially complex jurisdictional battles are to be avoided, try wherever possible to contract for a suitable choice of law and for the courts which will determine any disputes.’ The international caseload of the English Commercial Court is enormous. A survey …
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Jurisdiction: Games without frontiers

Carlo Piatti and Julian Berger examine a landmark ruling by the Italian Supreme Court ‘This case will be of interest to any foreign (non-Italian domiciled) entity that finds itself on the wrong end of an Italian lawsuit, and in circumstances where it is not clear whether Italian jurisdiction applies.’ The Italian Supreme Court (Court of …
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