ECJ To Determine Jurisdiction In International Contract Disputes

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

24 January 2005

In a statement released last week, the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) revealed that from March, appeals courts in the UK will be able to seek guidance from the European Court of Justice in cross-border contractual disputes.

The new provision is set to come into effect on March 1, and will enable courts to refer cases to the Court of Justice under the 1980 Rome Convention, which was implemented in the United Kingdom by the Contracts (Applicable Law) Act 1990, and lays down harmonised rules to determine which law of contract should apply in relation to international contractual disputes.

Until recently, its provisions could only be interpreted by national courts in the member states, and not by the Court of Justice.

The DCA explained that:

"The 1988 Brussels Protocol, which allows for the making of references to that Court, could not come into force earlier because it had not been ratified by all the member states. This has now happened and opens the way to the Protocol being brought into force in those countries." The Department went on to add:

"Enabling the Court of Justice to interpret the Convention will allow that court to build up a body of jurisprudence which will over time create uniformity as to its meaning. This gradual increase in legal certainty (other member states are also in the process of putting in place similar arrangements) will further the original purpose of the Convention which was to benefit international commerce by improving the functioning of the internal market."

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