MoU Jurisdiction
- The current wording could allow a dispute to be heard in a court outside of England, but it would still be subject to English law.
- This is not sensible as the officers of that court are unlikely to be trained in English law and certainly was not the intent of this clause when drafted.
- The change creates an exclusivity for resolution of disputes to England.
The change was requested by a LINX member, and our legal advice was that the change was a valid request and would be an improvement. In fact, no issue over the interpretation of the MoU has ever needed to be tested in court, so the effect of this change is likely to be minimal in practice.
The Change in Detail
| Current MoU 15.01 | Proposed MoU |
| 10 The governing law of this MoU is that of England, and the jurisdiction recognised is that of the English courts. | 10 The governing law of this MoU is that of England and Wales, and the English courts will have exclusive jurisdiction in respect of all matters relating to it. |
Next steps
This change was presented in outline at LINX94, where no comments were raised. It will be presented as a formal resolution at the EGM to be held on November 22nd 2016 as part of the LINX95 member conference.
If any LINX member wishes to comment on this change, please contact the LINX Member Relations team.
