The defendant's motion for summary dismissal
- The defendant filed the present motion in which she petitions to dismiss the claim in limine, due to a unique foreign jurisdiction clause; and the fact that the Israeli forum is not suitable for clarifying the dispute. Alternatively, it was argued that the plaintiff did not establish her cause of action, since the law of the contract between the parties is English law, and the plaintiff did not present her claims in accordance with English law. Foreign law is equivalent to a factual argument, which must be argued about in the statement of claim, and this has not been done.
8. I will present the summary of the parties' arguments. I will address additional arguments at the hearing and decision stage, and in the rest I have not found justification to deviate from the conclusions I have reached.
Summary of the Applicant, the Defendant's Arguments
- The defendant argues that the present action constitutes an attempt to circumvent a unique foreign jurisdiction clause, which is found in the agreement between the parties, and which grants exclusive jurisdiction to the courts in England. According to it, only they will be able to addressdisputes between the parties. It was further determined that the law that applies to the contract is English law. The parties expressly agreed that the agreement between them would be enforceable and justifiable only in the competent courts in England, because they recognize the jurisdiction of the courts there, and waive their right to argue against it.
The jurisdiction clause was drafted broadly. In accordance with the agreement, it must be interpreted according to English law; And according to the English rules of interpretation, when the parties have determined that the law of the contract is the law of England, it is a unique jurisdiction clause. This is not surprising, since Spirnet, which is an English company traded on the English stock exchange, sought to concentrate all its legal proceedings there; indeed, it intends to file a lawsuit in England, among other things, to pay the plaintiff's financial debt to it. The plaintiff's attempt to circumvent the jurisdiction clause amounts to abuse of court proceedings.