The government launched a consultation in 2000 on jurisdiction for enforcing contractual disputes across EU member states.
In particular, the document wishes to consult on:
- circumstances when a customer should be able to sue in his home country;
- how website purchases should be treated; and
- costs and benefits of alternative approaches and the likely impact on e-commerce take-up by business and consumers.
The convention will replace the existing one of 1968, when e-commerce did not exist. The convention determines in which country a dispute will be heard and whose courts will enforce any judgment. It does not deal with which country’s law applies to a contract, which is a matter for the parties to decided.
[2000]