[Nettime-bold] [basics on Hague convention]

[t byfield <tbyfield@panix.com>]

from: James Love <love@cptech.org>
organization: http://www.cptech.org
to: RANDOM-BITS <random-bits@venice.essential.org>,
    Hague Convention list <hague-jur-commercial-law@venice.essential.org>
subject: basics on Hague convention
date: Wed, 30 May 2001 08:30:52 -0700

This is from a letter we are drafting on the convention.... giving some
basics on how the convention works.  Jamie

The general framework for the convention is as follows.


1.	Countries which sign the convention agree to follow a set of rules
regarding jurisdiction for cross-border litigation.  Nearly all civil
and commercial litigation is included.  

2.	So long as these jurisdiction rules are followed, every country
agrees to enforce nearly all of the member country judgments and
injunctive orders, subject only to a narrow exception for judgments that
are  "manifestly incompatible with public policy," or to specific treaty
exceptions, such as the one for certain antitrust claims.  

3.  A judgment in one country is enforced in all Hague convention member
countries, even if the country has no connection to a particular
dispute.

4.	There are no requirements to harmonize national laws on any topic,
except for jurisdiction rules, and save the narrow Article 28(f) public
policy exception, there are no restrictions on the types of national
laws that to be enforced.  

5.	All "business to business" choice of forum contracts are enforced
under the convention.  This is true even for non-negotiated mass-market
contracts.  Under the most recent drafts of the convention, many
consumer transactions, such as the purchase of a work related airline
ticket from a web site, the sale of software to a school or the sale of
a book to a library, is defined as a business to business transaction,
which means that vendors of goods or services or publishers can
eliminate the right to sue or be sued in the country where a person
lives, and often engage in extensive forum shopping for the rules most
favorable to the seller or publisher.

-- 
James Love
Consumer Project on Technology
P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
http://www.cptech.org
love@cptech.org
1.202.387.8030 fax 1.202.234.5176
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