Transnational Tort Litigation

Book excerpt: The scope and application of the rules of civil jurisdiction is of immense practical importance in the conduct of transnational tort cases. Frequently such rules can dictate whether the plaintiff has an effective remedy or not and the shape of the ensuing litigation. The incidence of transborder harms is on the increase. One need only think of transboundary pollution (for example, fall-out from Chernobyl, the determination of proper forum for litigation of the Bhopal dispute); the rise in complex international fraud (Guinness, Ferranti, BCCI); the increase in scope for product liability and intellectual property litigation in international commerce; and transnational personal injury cases arising from the increased flow of persons across national borders. These practical problems give rise to difficult legal issues, which existing domestic rules of jurisdiction may be ill-equipped to resolve. In this timely collection of original articles a leading team of contributors assess existing legal provisions and examine the prospects for reform.