When an international shipping transaction ends in tears, a key and contentious issue is which country's laws are binding. But a pivotal ruling in London sheds much light on which way the legal wind is blowing. What do you do if the other party in a commercial dispute takes you to court in another country in spite of having agreed to English jurisdiction? Until recently, the answer in England was an 'anti-suit' injunction to halt the proceedings until a court had ruled on what the parties had contractually agreed and on whether it was binding on the claimant. People outside the UK have never liked this, and in 2001 a European Jurisdiction Regulation (EC No. 44/2001) said the courts of one 'Regulation' country should not order another not to hear a 'civil or commercial action' started in that country, whatever the parties might previously have agreed.
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