Treatment of Multi-Courts Jurisdiction Agreements

Abstract

An increasingly popular manner of drafting jurisdiction clauses in cross-border contracts involves the selection of the courts of more than one jurisdiction. Traditionally, parties would submit all disputes to the courts of a particular country under an exclusive jurisdiction agreement or agree that the transaction is subject to a particular jurisdiction without intending to create an obligation to proceed there and nowhere else. Of late, the Singapore courts have encountered litigation over multi-courts jurisdiction agreements. A common form involves the naming of a particular court with one of the parties being given the option to proceed anywhere else. ...

Keywords: Conflict of laws, private international law, choice of jurisdiction in contracts, multi-courts jurisdiction agreements, civil procedure, contract law, Singapore

JEL Classification: K33, K41