Dispute Resolution Clauses in Transnational Business Contracts

1. Planning for litigation: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure: 1.1. Object and purpose of dispute resolution clauses; 1.2. The issues raised by dispute resolution clauses in a transnational context. - 2. The rules applicable to dispute resolution clauses: an overview. - 3. Choice of court clauses: 3.1. The Hague Choice of Court Agreements Convention: 3.1.1. Scope of the Convention; 3.1.2. The possible object of the choice; 3.1.3. Conditions of enforceability of the choice: matters of form; 3.1.4. Conditions of enforceability of the choice: matters of substance; 3.1.4. Independence of the clause from the main contract; 3.1.5. Effects of a valid choice; 3.1.6. Recognition and enforcement of rulings given by the chosen court; 3.2. The Brussels I bis Regulation: 3.2.1. Scope of the Regulation; 3.2.2. The Regulation’s rules on jurisdiction: an overview; 3.2.3. The rule on choice of court agreements: general remarks; 3.2.4. Conditions of enforceability of the choice: matters of form; 3.2.5. Conditions of enforceability of the choice: matters of substance; 3.2.6. Independence of the clause from the main contract; 3.2.7. Effects of a valid choice of court agreement; 3.2.8. Issues in respect of parallel litigation; 3.2.7. Recognition and enforcement of rulings given by the chosen court; 3.3. The interplay of the Hague Convention and the Brussels I bis Regulation. - 4. Arbitration clauses: 4.1. The New York Convention on the Recognition of Foreign Arbitral Awards: 4.1.1. Scope of the Convention; 4.1.2. Essential and non-essential elements of an arbitration agreement; 4.1.3 Conditions of enforceability of the clause: matters of form; 4.1.4. Conditions of enforceability of the clause: matters of substance; 4.1.5. Independence of the clause from the main contract; 4.1.7. Arbitrability of the dispute; 4.1.8 The effects of a valid arbitration agreement; 4.1.9. Recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards; 4.2. The pace of arbitration in uniform texts dealing with jurisdiction – 5. Dispute resolution clauses and their contractual context. – 6. More than ‘midnight clauses’: the strategic value of litigation planning.