AGREEMENTS ON DETERM INING INTERNATIONAL JURISDICTION AS EXCLUSIVE OR DISCRETIONARY
Tevfik Can İNAN
Abstract
International jurisdiction agreements, which have roots in Roman law, are recognized across various legal systems today, albeit with differences in their details. These agreements serve to designate courts—whether domestic or foreign—that lack jurisdiction over a dispute as competent, or to override the jurisdiction of courts that would otherwise have authority. According to international law, for such agreements to be valid, they must meet certain conditions.
While the classification of jurisdiction agreements within a specific branch of law remains a matter of debate, the prevailing view in many legal systems, including Turkish law, is that they should be addressed under procedural law. In cases where Turkish courts are designated as competent through a jurisdiction agreement, such agreements can only be made by public legal entities or merchants and are limited to matters over which the parties have the authority to dispose. In contrast, when foreign courts are designated as competent, the validity requirements under Turkish law do not apply. The validity of jurisdiction agreements is assessed in all legal systems based on the law of the forum (lex fori), which is the law of the country where the court is located
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