Description

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This is the first text to address all the instruments that will govern choice-of-court agreements in Europe and to engage in a practical discussion of their mutual relationship. The existing common law, which has dominated discussion of this subject for so long, will become less significant as European and international instruments become more widely applicable. The consequences of this, both for practitioners and business persons engaging in international transactions, are explained by thematic chapters covering all major issues affected.

The work opens with an introduction to the components of a choice-of-court agreement and to the origins, principles, and status of the various instruments, making the text accessible to a broad practitioner audience. The scope of the instruments - territorial application, international application and subject-matter application - as well as conflicts between them, are addressed in Part II, which is devoted to guidance on deciding which instrument applies. Validity (substantive and formal), effects, remedies, and procedure are discussed in Part III, while Part IV tackles a range of more specialist areas, including insurance, consumer contracts, employment contracts, companies, and intellectual property. Comprehensive appendices follow, including the Hague Convention 2005 in its entirety, alongside extracts from Brussels I and Lugano, making this a standalone support for any practitioner facing unfamiliar questions in the area.

About the Author

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Trevor Hartley, Professor Emeritus of Law, London School of Economics Trevor Hartley is Professor Emeritus of Law at the London School of Economics, where he has taught since 1969, after five years at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. He has been a visiting professor at the Universities of California (Berkeley), Michigan, Florida, and Texas and at the College of Europe, Bruges. He has published many books and articles on EU Law and Private International Law, including International Commercial Litigation (Cambridge University Press, 2009), The Foundations of European Community Law, 7th ed. (Oxford University Press, 2010) and European Union Law in a Global Context (Cambridge University Press, 2004). He co-authored the official report on the 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements. He is a member of the American Law Institute and the Committee that advises the British Government on private international law (Ministry of Justice).