The Law Governing Enforceability of Forum Selection Agreements

Abstract

The paper examines approaches to determining the law governing forum selection agreements (“FSA”) in the US, the EU, Germany, and on international level (on example of the 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements). It analyses the historical treatment of FSA, as well as its legal features, and shows how they influenced the approaches adopted by the above jurisdictions. It looks at all potentially applicable laws (lex fori, lex causae, lex fori prorogati) and discusses the arguments in favor and against each of them, testing them against the principles of predictability, procedural economy, legal certainty, and regulatory interests of states. The paper adopts comparative approach in order to familiarize with the solutions adopted by different legal systems draw conclusions which might benefit them.

The paper was completed to fulfill the requirements for a master of laws degree at Harvard Law School and received the 2018 Addison Brown Prize in conflict of laws.

Keywords: forum selection agreements, choice-of-court agreements, applicable law, enforceability