ABSTRACT
We are now concerned with those situations in which an English court may possess jurisdiction but will decline to exercise it because, after weighing some other important consideration, the court decides to exercise its discretion to decline jurisdiction and stay proceedings. The plaintiff may be then forced to go abroad or to pursue the matter through arbitration. This is an area of law that has developed considerably in the last quarter of a century as international litigation has become part of the global village.1 In general terms, two aspects of this problem need to be considered: (a) where an English court applies the doctrine of forum non conveniens; and (b) where there is a foreign jurisdiction clause.
