MOTACUS CONSTRUCTIONS LTD v PAOLO CASTELLI SPA

[2021] EWHC 356 (TCC), Technology and Construction Court, His Honour Judge Hodge QC sitting as a Judge of the High Court, 22 February 2021

Construction contract with exclusive jurisdiction clause in favour of the courts of Paris – Whether the English court had jurisdiction to enforce the decision of the adjudicator

The claimant applied for summary judgment in order to enforce the decision of an adjudicator. The defendant sought to resist enforcement on the ground that the English courts did not have jurisdiction to determine the application for summary judgment because it had been brought in breach of the exclusive jurisdiction clause which conferred jurisdiction on the courts of Paris. The matter was governed by the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements which is now the applicable legal instrument after the exit of the UK from the European Union. The claimant relied upon two Articles of the Convention as part of its case that the court did have jurisdiction.