Giving Weight To Arbitration Clauses

This article was first published in an amended form in Lloyd's List.

Brussels is looking at ways to enforce jurisdictional agreements

When a contract such as a charterparty is being negotiated, it is common for the parties to agree to include either an exclusive choice of court or an arbitration clause to pre-empt jurisdictional disputes that may arise in the future.

However, when a party breaches a clause requiring, for example, disputes to be brought exclusively before an arbitral tribunal in London by commencing proceedings in the court of another European Union Member State, the ability of the other party to enforce the clause has in recent years been severely curtailed.