Forum Non Conveniens in UK Law
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Spiliada Maritime Corporation v Cansulex Ltd
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(1) The basic principle is that a stay will only be granted on the ground of forum non conveniens where the court is satisfied that there is some other available forum, having competent jurisdiction, which is the appropriate forum for the trial of the action, i.e. in which the case may be tried more suitably for the interests of all the parties and the ends of justice.
So it is for connecting factors in this sense that the court must first look; and these will include not only factors affecting convenience or expense (such as availability of witnesses), but also other factors such as the law governing the relevant transaction (as to which see Credit Chimique v. James Scott Engineering Group Ltd. 1982 S.L.T. 131), and the places where the parties respectively reside or carry on business.
In this enquiry, the court will consider all the circumstances of the case, including circumstances which go beyond those taken into account when considering connecting factors with other jurisdictions.
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Spiliada Maritime Corporation v Cansulex Ltd
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In the result, it seems to me that the solution of disputes about the relative merits of trial in England and trial abroad is pre-eminently a matter for the trial judge. Commercial court judges are very experienced in these matters. An appeal should be rare and the appellate court should be slow to interfere.
I feel bound to say that I doubt whether the Latin tag forum non conveniens is apt to describe this principle. For the question is not one of convenience, but of the suitability or appropriateness of the relevant jurisdiction.
Now, to take some extreme examples, suppose that the plaintiff allowed the limitation period to elapse in the appropriate jurisdiction, and came here simply because he wanted to take advantage of a more generous time bar applicable in this country; or suppose that it was obvious that the plaintiff should have commenced proceedings in the appropriate jurisdiction, and yet he did not trouble to issue a protective writ there; in cases such as these, I cannot see that the court should hesitate to stay the proceedings in this country, even though the effect would be that the plaintiff's claim would inevitably be defeated by a plea of the time bar in the appropriate jurisdiction.
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Lucasfilm Ltd v Ainsworth
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We do not have decide whether that was correct, though we note that, if he his right, there is this oddity: that there is a clear lis pendens rule, with associated court first seized rule, for parallel cases within the EU but none for parallel cases where one is running within an EU Member State and one without. What Barling J did not decide was that Art. 2 conferred extra-EU subject matter jurisdiction generally.
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Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982
... ... a court from declining jurisdiction on the ground offorum non conveniens ... (2) Nothing in Schedule 8 affects the operation of any enactment or ... out or dismissing any proceedings before it, on the ground of forum non conveniens or otherwise, where to do so is not inconsistent with ... ...
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Defamation and Malicious Publication (Scotland) Act 2021
... ... limits the availability of, or otherwise affects, any plea of forum non conveniens in respect of proceedings to which this section applies ... ...
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ACT OF SEDERUNT ANENT PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT, 1925 (15 & 16 GEO. 5. c. 84).
... ... 5. Transmission to Forum conveniens.—If a sheriff before whom an application under the Act is ... ...
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The Restriction of the Power of the Courts to Stay Proceedings in Favour of More Appropriate International Courts: The Decision in Owusu v Jackson
The judgment in Owusu v Jackson has provided an answer to the controversy over whether courts of EU Member States have discretion to stay proceedings in favour of courts of non-Member States. Speci...... ... , the European Court of Justice established that the doctrine of forum non conveniens could not be used so as to refuse jurisdiction and stay the ... ...
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From famine to feast. The prosecution of multi‐jurisdictional financial crime in the electronic age
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the development of the common law test for asserting criminal jurisdiction over financial crimes. Historically, the British courts at the turn of th...... ... for the samecriminal conduct, it is recommended that the doctrine of forum non conveniens, a familiar and developedconcept in civil law, be applied ... ...
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THE HEAR ACT: AN UNDERUTILISED TOOL FOR RECOVERING HOLOCAUST-LOOTED ART IS SCHEDULED SOON PARTIALLY TO EXPIRE.
... ... might apply; and whether a case could be dismissed on the grounds of forum non conveniens. A persistent undercurrent in these cases is that public ... ...
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The Hague Convention on Jurisdiction and Judgments: The Way Forward
This article analyses the proposed Hague Convention on Jurisdiction and Judgments, which has been the subject of lengthy and ongoing negotiations. The issues that continue to divide the parties cen...... ... each case based upon a close connection between the dispute and the forum in question. These include, in the case of contracts, the place of ... of the United Kingdom, the common law doctrine of forum non conveniens , which permits a forum that has jurisdiction to decline to exercise it in ... ...
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Forum non-conveniens and access to remedy in transnational business and human rights litigation: an update from Brexit Britain and a glance across the pond
What is forum non-conveniens? According to the principle of “forum non-conveniens” (or inconvenient forum), a court has the power to dismiss a civil action where an appropriate and more convenient ...
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Judge Stein Dismisses Securities Fraud Case Against Citi on Forum Non Conveniens Grounds
In an opinion issued today, Judge Stein dismissed the securities fraud claims of a putative class of Citigroup investors led by a United Kingdom-based pension fund. The claims were based on Euro N...
- High Court Orders Stay Of English Proceedings Brought By Bank On Grounds Of Forum Non Conveniens
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Parent company liability in England for human rights impacts abroad: Lungowe v Vedanta
Conventionally, a "corporate veil" and the doctrine of "forum non-conveniens" have isolated UK businesses from human rights related claims arising out of the operations of their foreign subsidiaries.... Conventionally, a "corporate veil" and the doctrine of "forum non-conveniens" have isolated UK businesses from human rights related ... ...