“Execution” - Reference To Signature Or Performance Of Contract? (Italian Bottle Case No 2)

Vetreria Etrusca SRL v Kingston Estate Wines Pty Ltd [2008] SASC 75

• Order refusing stay confirmed when wording of jurisdiction clause giving foreign court jurisdiction was ambiguous.

In these proceedings, an Italian bottle manufacturer appealed a decision by the SA District Court to stay proceedings .

Kingston claimed damages against the appellant for breach of contract by reason of the supply of faulty products. Vetreria sought to stay those proceedings on the basis of a jurisdiction clause. At issue in this judgment was what meaning should be given to the word "execution" in a jurisdiction clause. The appellant, Vetreria, submitted that this term referred to the performance of the contract and not the formal signing or adoption of it.