LAW41200

Litigation is more complex where it has a foreign element: for example, where it concerns an international contract or a transnational tort.

The appropriate location for hearing the case may be unclear and highly contested where the parties are based in different countries. Beyond the convenience and familiarity of litigating at home, there may be procedural rules relating to legal costs or discovery of documents which make one forum much more advantageous from the perspective of one party (and therefore disadvantageous from the perspective of the other).

There may also be a dispute as to which substantive law should apply in resolving the case. If the case concerns contractual misrepresentation or product liability, and the two connected legal systems have different laws in this area, then each party will want to have the dispute resolved in accordance with the laws that suit their interests.

A question may also arise as to whether a judgment obtained in one country should be recognised and enforced in another country where the defendant has assets. Judgment-recognition may be particularly contentious where the original trial was perceived to have been unfair or where there was an assertion that the case should have been heard elsewhere.

These problems which arise in cross-border litigation are resolved by reference to conflict of laws rules, and in Europe mainly by reference to the harmonised conflict of laws rules laid down in EU Regulations.

Students on this module will explore these EU Regulations (including the Brussels I Recast Regulation and the Rome I and Rome II Regulations), alongside common law conflict of laws doctrine and relevant international conventions.