Reinsurance - Jurisdiction and Applicable Law

(Ace Insurance SA-NV v Zurich Insurance Co, [2001] Lloyd’s Rep IR 504)

The decision of the Court of Appeal in Ace Insurance SA-NV v Zurich Insurance Co , [2001] Lloyd’s Rep IR 504 , is important in the context of reinsurance in particular, but also has much wider significance in that it for the time being resolves an important question relating to the ability of the English courts to stay their proceedings in cases where their jurisdiction is conferred by the Brussels Convention 1968 or the Lugano Convention 1989. The case also incidentally raised issues of the significance of the law applicable to a reinsurance agreement in jurisdictional disputes.