Trust Jurisdiction Clauses - Extra Care Now Required

The Privy Council (Neuberger, Mance, Reed, Hughes and Hodge) handed down its judgment in Crociani on 26 November 2014. In a single judgment delivered by the court, the decision of the Jersey Court of Appeal has been upheld, and a stay of the Jersey proceedings in favour of Mauritius refused.

The Privy Council's reasoning does not fundamentally differ from that of the Jersey Court of Appeal. However, there are certain important aspects of the decision in which the Privy Council has added its own slant, and in doing so has arguably reduced rather than enhanced the clarity of the current position.

Thus, where the Jersey Court of Appeal had concluded that in the context of Clause Twelfth (the clause asserted by the Appellants to confer exclusive jurisdiction on the Courts of Mauritius), 'forum of administration' meant no more than the place where the trust was to be administered on a day-to-day basis, the Privy Council has taken a slightly softer line. It has held