47.1 In the reinsurance context, the parties to the contract often reside in more than one country. As a result, the possibility exists that more than one court system could assert jurisdiction over a dispute. The question of which of the competing countries’ courts takes jurisdiction can have a fundamental, perhaps even determinative, effect on which party is successful in the dispute that has arisen. It is for this reason that substantial sums are spent by disputing parties either trying to persuade a court in a “favourable” jurisdiction to hear their dispute or, conversely, trying to persuade a court in an “unfavourable” jurisdiction not to hear it.