05 International Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolutions
- Alternative Dispute Resolutions (ADR): Ways of settling a dispute without a state court: escalation procedure, mediation, arbitration
- Amount in dispute: The value of a lawsuit for the plaintiff; the basis for calculating court fees and lawyers’ compensation
- Applicable law: The law of the country that governs a contract or dispute; agreed by the parties (choice of law) or determined by conflict-of-laws rules
- Arbitral award: The binding decision of an arbitral tribunal; enforceable in 172 states under the New York Convention of 1958
- Arbitration: Dispute resolution by a private tribunal that the parties have agreed upon, usually in an arbitration clause
- Barrister / Solicitor: The two kinds of lawyers in England and Wales: the barrister pleads before the courts, the solicitor advises the client and prepares the case
- Choice-of-court agreement: Contract clause determining the court of jurisdiction; respected in the member states of the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements
- Conflict-of-laws rules: National rules that determine which country’s law applies and which court has jurisdiction in an international case; in Switzerland the PILA
- Court of jurisdiction: The court that has the authority to hear and decide a case (place of jurisdiction)
- Escalation procedure: Agreed sequence of steps for solving disagreements, from the project level up to the management and then to external dispute resolution
- Evidence: Documents, messages, photos and witnesses that prove the facts of a case; what cannot be proven does not exist in court
- Legal privilege: The duty and right of a lawyer to keep everything the client tells them confidential, also towards courts and authorities
- Litigation: The process of resolving a dispute through the court system; in this chapter also the whole way there, including negotiation and ADR
- Lugano Convention: Treaty between Switzerland and the EU (plus Norway and Iceland) on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments; no longer applicable to the UK since Brexit
- Mediation: A neutral third party (mediator) helps the parties find their own solution; the mediator does not decide
- New York Convention: Treaty of 1958 under which arbitral awards are recognised and enforced in 172 states
- PILA: Swiss Federal Act on Private International Law: determines the applicable law and the Swiss court of jurisdiction in international cases
- Place of performance: The place where a contractual obligation is to be performed (e.g. delivery); often an additional court of jurisdiction for contract claims
- «The loser takes it all»: Principle that the losing party bears all costs of a lawsuit: court fees and the lawyers’ fees of both parties
05 International Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolutions