Forum Forum

Shopping Shopping
Submitted By:
Mohit Shekhawat (28)
Sanjeev Singh (47)
Vineet Kharbanda (59)
Vipin Bansal (61)
Vivek Kamra (66)
S.Rajan (44)
Sunil Khanna (49)
Agenda Agenda
What is Forum Shopping
Selection of Forum by Plaintiff
Selection of Forum by Defendant
Motives for Forum Shopping
Legal basis for Forum Shopping
Law pertaining to prorogation
Is Forum Shopping Legal
Forum Shopping Case
What is Forum Shopping What is Forum Shopping
Forum shopping is a practice adopted by litigants to get
their cases heard in a particular court that is likely to
provide a favourable judgment.
Forum shopping is a clause in an agreement specify the
state and county where any disputes will be heard.Forum
shopping clauses alter the normal rules.They are
frequently included by financially strong parties who are
afraid of the whims of local lawyers,judges, and juries and
would prefer that disputes are handled in their own
backyard.
Selection of Forum Selection of Forum
The plaintiff might have selected one forum on the following
grounds:
The forum is not convenient to the defendant or his
witnesses. There may be problems of expense of travel,
health, or visa or entry permit.
The court, the judge, or the law is most likely to favour the
plaintiff case
by Plaintiff by Plaintiff
by Defendant by Defendant
The defendant may take the following actions to seek a
change of venue
The defendant may petition the forum court that it should
reject the jurisdiction and petition to transfer the case to
an allegedly more convenient forum
Motives for Forum Shopping Motives for Forum Shopping
The most advantageous substantive law for the plaintiff,
applicable in the state where the action is brought to court,
is generally considered to be the primary motive for forum
shopping
The evidentiary rules can also animate a plaintiff to pursue
forum shopping
Rapid legal protection is a primary factor when the client
considers which forum to select. Whether legal protection is
quicker domestically or abroad depends in large part on the
lawyers as well as the courts
Cost considerations facilitated
Legal basis for Forum Shopping Legal basis for Forum Shopping
Forum shopping in international legal relations is worth the
effort when certain prerequisites are fulfilled
In general, every nation regulates their own international
jurisdiction for courts and administrative personnel. But even
where the states commit the international jurisdiction of their
decision-taking bodies in treaties, competing jurisdictions often
occur. Accordingly, domestic and binding international law
often provides the well-informed lawyer with the opportunity to
choose between domestic and foreign jurisdiction
International determination of applicable law is only partially
standardized at the international level and enjoys only a
limited scope. To codify the entire Private International Law
(P.I.L.), the individual states are tinkering at the edges with
their own conflicts rules and according to domestic legal
philosophies.
Law pertaining to prorogation Law pertaining to prorogation
Prorogation can be liberally applied, or in favour of a weaker
contractual party be more complicated or even forbidden
In non-pecuniary cases or where only one jurisdiction exists,
choice of forum clauses are not allowed.
Provisions exist which can render a prorogation invalid when
the particular case and the parties do not have sufficient
relations to the forum country
Exception
When the court cannot hear the case because the judicial
system has come to a standstill. Under these circumstances a
domestic court is asked to provide legal redress, then we are
not talking about forum shopping, but rather a request for
emergency jurisdiction.
Is Forum Shopping Legal ? Is Forum Shopping Legal ?
International Law does not forbid forum shopping. International law
is, with regard to forum shopping, only relevant to the extent that
international law set limits to a state's power to exercise jurisdiction.
The law of the non-selected forum cannot directly hinder forum
shopping, only indirectly by sanctioning the party (or parties)
involved
It is perfectly acceptable for a party to take advantage of a normally
available jurisdiction by selecting the most advantageous forum. As
long as the party does not purposefully and superficially manipulate
the facts in order to justify a court's jurisdiction. A discussion on the
legitimacy of forum shopping is therefore only worthwhile with
regards to legal forms of forum shopping.
Legal Case ? Legal Case ?
References References
http://legalcatch.wordpress.com/2006/10/24/forum-shopping-law-
definition/
http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/Report193.pdf
http://www.welfareacademy.org/pubs/legal/forumshopping_88.pdf
Thanks
Forum shopping is not going to disappear
at any point in foreseeable future.Infact, as
long as there are overlapping jurisdictions
and multiple regimes, forum shopping
cannot be eliminated