Strong Cause
8 April 2025 (Tuesday), 1:00-2:00 PM
Room 901, 9/F Cheng Yu Tung Tower, The University of Hong Kong
Common law courts refuse to enforce jurisdiction agreements when they find “strong cause” or “strong reasons” not to. Why is this so? Accounts describing this “strong cause” test as frustration or remedial discretion seem incorrect, while accounts describing it as a prohibition against ousters of the court’s jurisdiction seem incomplete. Here, I argue that the strong cause test is a prohibition against contracts ousting the forum non conveniens test. Yet, under forum non conveniens’ own logic, jurisdiction agreements should generally be given significant weight, because they generally reflect parties’ well-informed views about the most appropriate forum for their dispute. This account explains various features of the strong cause test, like the relevance of foreseeability, third party interests, and parties’ respective bargaining powers. It also holds implications for the test’s applicability to breaches of non-exclusive jurisdiction agreements and in applications for contractual anti-suit injunctions.
About the Speaker:
Marcus Teo is Assistant Professor at NUS Law, specialising in private international law, public law and foreign relations law. His work has featured in the Cambridge Law Journal, the International and Comparative Law Quarterly, the Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, and the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. His current research focuses on foreign relations doctrines in private international law and the theoretical foundations of international civil jurisdiction. Marcus is an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore, and he co-convenes the Singapore Private International Law Discussion Group. He holds degrees from NUS and Cambridge University.
Moderator: Justice Anselmo Reyes, International Judge, Singapore International Commercial Court
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