Adrian Briggs, AGREEMENTS ON JURISDICTION AND CHOICE OF LAW Oxford: Oxford University Press (www.oup.co.uk), Oxford Private International Law Series, 2008. xlvi and 572 pp. ISBN 9780199282302. £145.
| Pages | 348-349 |
| Date | 01 May 2009 |
| DOI | 10.3366/E1364980909001589 |
| Published date | 01 May 2009 |
“In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice; in practice, there is” (attributed to Chuck Reid). A reader seeking a practical analysis of the classification, drafting, validity and enforcement of contractual clauses relating to questions of jurisdiction and choice of law could reasonably be sceptical of finding such a treatment in a book which, according to the general editor of the Oxford PIL series, is a book “of themes and of ideas”. A notable characteristic, however, indeed a virtue, of Professor Briggs’ book is that it has been written in a manner which, on the one hand, is clear and concise and contains a great deal of information that is of considerable value to commercial practitioners, and, on the other, is explorative and thoughtful as to the themes and doctrines which underlie agreements on jurisdiction and choice of law, and which, principally, will draw an academic readership.
Private international law has occasionally been dismissed (even decried) as a subject concerned with arcane points of law, rarely arising and of limited practical relevance. If ever that was true, the sentiment is long out-of-date. While some academic writers may beg to challenge the notion that theory without practice is pointless, Briggs writes from a perspective that practice without theory would be mindless. A practising barrister, Professor Briggs commands a vantage point which makes him pre-eminently well-placed to write on the symbiosis of the practical application of conflict of laws rules and their theoretical underpinning. The continually increasing commercial importance of private international law is beyond doubt, as recognised by the stated aim of the Oxford PIL series. Practitioners, especially, will welcome the thoroughly pragmatic advice proffered by the author in chapter 5 (“Drafting Agreements”). This chapter, which includes specimen clauses in turn minimalist and elaborate in design, is placed not as an afterthought or appendix to the book but as a core chapter. The author's justification for this approach is that it would be “irrational to explain the contractual nature of private international law while disdaining the rules and techniques of draftsmanship” (para 5.01).
Students and researchers who are familiar already with Briggs’ earlier book,
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