Conflict of laws
Aspen Underwriting Ltd and others v Credit Europe Bank Nv [2020] UKSC 11, [2020] All ER (D) 08 (Apr)
A jurisdiction agreement in an insurance contract did not bind a third party beneficiary of insurance who was domiciled in a different contracting state and who had not expressly subscribed to the clause. Accordingly, the Supreme Court ruled that the lower courts had not erred in ruling that the English court did not have jurisdiction pursuant to the exclusive English jurisdiction clause contained in the insurance policy concerning a vessel (the policy), in proceedings to recover sums paid by the insurers under a settlement agreement relating to the loss of the vessel, on the basis that it had been deliberately sunk. The court held that the bank, which was domiciled in the Netherlands and which was identified as the mortgagee, assignee and loss payee in the policy, was not a party to the contract (concerning jurisdiction) contained in that policy and that it was not bound by that contract to submit to the jurisdiction of the English
