Adjudication and exclusive jurisdiction clauses

In Motacus Constructions Ltd v Paolo Castelli SpA [2021] EWHC 356 (TCC), Judge Hodge QC held that the defendant was not entitled to resist enforcement of the decision of an adjudicator on the ground that the court had no jurisdiction to make the order, given that the parties by the terms of their contract had conferred exclusive jurisdiction in relation to all disputes arising under the contract on the courts of Paris. He held that construction adjudication constituted an “interim measure” of protection for the purposes of Article 7 of the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements and as such was not governed by the Convention. While summary judgment is a final and conclusive remedy, Judge Hodge concluded that the reality of the claimant’s application was that the court was being invited to grant an interim, rather than a final and conclusive, remedy. He therefore held that the claimant was entitled to succeed with its application for summary judgment.