英国和香港法下的提单外国管辖权条款

详述了英国及香港法院在处理提单中外国管辖权条款,特别当原告在提单列明的管辖地之外起诉时所适用法律原则及司法实践。总的原则是法院对于管辖权异议的申请有裁量权,且通常情况下法院要允许中止诉讼的申请,除非有强有力的证据证明管辖权异议不应被支持,而该举证责任由原告承担。重点探讨了法院通常要考虑的各种因素,也简述了英国及香港法院如何处理提单中仲裁条款,在这种情况下法院没有裁量权而只能允许中止诉讼的申请。

Foreign jurisdiction clause in bill of lading under English and Hong Kong law

The paper reviews the current position of the English and Hong Kong courts over foreign jurisdiction clause in Bills of Lading, where the plaintiff proceeds in places other than those specified in the Bills of Lading. Generally, the courts have discretion to grant a stay of proceedings. And a stay should be granted unless there is strong cause for not doing so. The burden to show strong cause rests on the plaintiff. The paper focuses on the factors which would normally be considered by the court when exercising their discretion. The paper also comments upon arbitration clauses in Bills of Lading where the courts have no discretion but to stay the proceedings in favour of the arbitration places stated in the Bills of Lading.