Is Your Asymmetric Jurisdiction Clause Valid?

Introduction

On February 27, 2025, the Court of Justice to the European Union ("CJEU") issued an important ruling on the validity of asymmetric (lop-sided) jurisdiction clauses in terms of the Brussels Regulation Recast. We first reported on the preliminary reference in October 2023.

The case involved an Italian entity, Società Italiana Lastre SpA ("SIL"), and a French company, Agora SARL ("Agora"). The lop-sided jurisdiction agreement in their contract provided:

'the court of Brescia [(Italy)] will have jurisdiction over any dispute arising from or related to this contract. [SIL] reserves the right to bring proceedings against the purchaser before another competent court in Italy or elsewhere'.