The Commercial Court has found that an arbitration clause in a consultancy agreement was superseded by an exclusive English jurisdiction clause in a later settlement agreement: Monde Petroleum SA v Westernzagros Limited [2015] EWHC 67 (Comm).
The court emphasised the presumption in favour of one-stop adjudication - that is, the presumption that rational commercial parties normally intend all questions arising out of their legal relationship to be determined in the same forum. That conclusion is not however invariable; where there is clear wording to the contrary, the court will give effect to it even if that leads to a fragmentation of proceedings (see this post).
The present decision suggests that the presumption of one-stop adjudication is particularly strong where an agreement is entered into for the purpose of terminating an earlier agreement between the same parties or settling disputes which have arisen under such an agreement. Nonetheless, where parties intend that a previous dispute resolution clause will be superseded, it is best to say so expressly. Click here to read more about the case on our Arbitration Notes blog.
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