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The Choice of Court Agreement: Perils of the Midnight Clause
In the space of five months recently, the Singapore Court of Appeal released three seminal decisions relating to the enforcement of choice of court agreements in the common law regime: one recasting the "strong cause" test to justify a breach of an exclusive choice of court agreement in the context of the exercise of the court's jurisdiction; one on the interpretation and effect of non-exclusive choice of court agreements; and the third on the availability of injunctions to enforce choice of court agreements. This lecture will review the significance and implications of these developments for litigation and drafting in relation to cross-border transactions, against the backdrop of the common law as well as the Singapore International Commercial Court and the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements, and highlight the perils of midnight choice of court clauses.
