Owusu v Jackson
Under the Brussels Convention, an English court could not stay proceedings against an English domiciled defendant on the ground that a non member state was a more appropriate forum.
Facts
Mr Owusu, an English domiciled man, was injured when he dived into the sea at a private beach in Jamaica, and was left tetraplegic. He had rented a holiday villa from Mr Jackson, also domiciled in England, which gave access to the beach. He sued Mr Jackson in England for breach of contract, and also sued several Jamaican companies in tort. The defendants applied for a stay on the ground that Jamaica was the more appropriate forum. The Court of Appeal referred questions to the Court of Justice.
Legal principle
The Court of Justice held that article 2 of the Brussels Convention, under which persons domiciled in a contracting state must be sued in the courts of that state, was mandatory, and precluded a court of a contracting state from declining jurisdiction on the ground that a court of a non contracting state would be a more appropriate forum, even if the jurisdiction of no other contracting state was in issue. The doctrine of forum non conveniens was incompatible with the principle of legal certainty which underlay the Convention. After the United Kingdom left the EU, the rule in Owusu no longer applies in the English courts, which can again stay proceedings against English defendants on forum non conveniens grounds.
Related cases on jurisdiction and forum non conveniens
- Altimo Holdings and Investment Ltd v Kyrgyz Mobil Tel Ltd [2011] UKPC 7, [2012] 1 WLR 1804
- Connelly v RTZ Corp plc [1998] AC 854
- Erich Gasser GmbH v MISAT Srl Case C-116/02, [2003] ECR I-14693
- FS Cairo (Nile Plaza) LLC v Brownlie [2021] UKSC 45, [2022] AC 995
- Lubbe v Cape plc [2000] 1 WLR 1545
- Okpabi v Royal Dutch Shell plc [2021] UKSC 3, [2021] 1 WLR 1294
- Provimi Ltd v Aventis Animal Nutrition SA [2003] EWHC 961 (Comm)
- Shevill v Presse Alliance SA Case C-68/93, [1995] ECR I-415
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