The Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements and the enforcement of forum-selection clauses in Indian private international law

Abstract

The Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements (the HCCA) that came into effect on 1 October 2015, fundamentally regulates forum-selection clauses in international civil and commercial agreements and the manner in which, the courts of Contracting States shall enforce them. Although India is a member of the Hague Conference, it is yet to sign and ratify the HCCA. In the domestic realm, matters pertaining to jurisdiction are governed in India by the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) 1908, with there being no particular provision to regulate the enforcement of forum-selection clauses in international matters. This article rummages to find whether Indian courts correspondingly enforce forum-selection clauses in international civil and commercial agreements, so as to suspend or dismiss proceedings in circumstances where the parties have made a choice in favour of an international court. Accordingly, it demonstrates the basis on which, Indian courts would uphold exclusive choice of court agreements in international civil and commercial matters, to draw the complementarities, if any, that exist in this respect, between the HCCA and Indian private international law.