contract law question

lordarpad

folks, is it possible to agree in a contract to be bound by the law of another country? 1 contract party is here, the other in country A. Both agree that they would like this contract to be governed by the laws of country B. Would this be possible? My gut feeling is yes, but I'd be interested in other opinions.

edit: all countries involved are EU members

Farcear

Yes.

Parties can agree to use the Law of Country X; for disputes to be heard in courts located in Country Y (using country X law) about a contract concerning services in Country Z.

Disclaimer: Some limitations for consumer contracts but if this business-to-business stuff, parties can basically agree to do whatever they want.

beeftotheheels

lordarpad wrote: »

folks, is it possible to agree in a contract to be bound by the law of another country? 1 contract party is here, the other in country A. Both agree that they would like this contract to be governed by the laws of country B. Would this be possible? My gut feeling is yes, but I'd be interested in other opinions.

edit: all countries involved are EU members

Doesn't matter a damn whether all parties are EU nationals. Many financial contracts signed by non British parties give exclusive jurisdiction to the Courts of England and Wales.

Irish securitization companies frequently issue notes justiciable under the laws of the sponsor, be that England and Wales, or NY, or Connecticut.

It is just a term of the contract and subject to the normal caveats.

jblack

But do be careful when incorporating the law of another country into your contract. You may agree but even still there are various contractual rights/obligations that are implied by statute and cannot be contracted out of.

You may also intend for certain rules to apply, but our courts will interpret differently. For example, in construction if there was no exclusion of consequential economic loss, then as a concurrent duty in the UK there would be no recovery for dangerous defects in buildings whereas in Ireland there may be.

Marcusm

I have even signed contracts which have provided that they are to be governed by New York law as applied by the courts of England and Wales! Whether any of this is respected in the event of a dispute is not something on which any competent lawyer could provde an opinion.

lordarpad

Thanks guys

yes, this is B2B stuff and I was planning for the laws and the courts of country x to apply.