Choice of Court Agreements under an International Civil Law Act

The Convention on Choice of Court Agreements, promulgated by the Hague Conference on Private International Law, aims to ensure the effectiveness of choice of court agreements between parties to international commercial transactions. In late 2016, Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Treaties recommended that Australia accede to the Convention through a proposed ‘International Civil Law Act’. This article aims to explain how accession to the Convention would affect Australian law. It is argued that, although the Convention largely aligns to the current approach to choice of court agreements in Australian private international law, there are important differences that deserve attention.