What is England & Wales’s local judiciary’s approach to exclusive jurisdiction clauses?
The English judiciary takes a favourable approach to exclusive jurisdiction clauses. It will usually (i) stay proceedings commenced before the English courts in breach of an exclusive jurisdiction clause prescribing a foreign dispute resolution forum or (ii) grant an anti-suit injunction against proceedings commenced outside England in breach of an exclusive jurisdiction clause in favour of the English courts, provided that those proceedings are not commenced in a Member State of the European Union. In Case C-159/02 – Turner v Grovit, the ECJ held that it would be contrary to the Brussels Convention for English courts to grant an anti-suit injunction so as to restrain parallel court proceedings commenced by a defendant in another Convention country in breach of an exclusive jurisdiction clause in favour of the English courts. Therefore, an English court will only grant anti-suit relief where the foreign proceedings in question are brought in the court of a non-Member State.
