Forum non conveniens

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Forum non conveniens (linguistic ninjas might have deduced this is Latin for “an inconvenient forum”) is a common law doctrine through which a court refuses to hear a case because there is another forum or court that would be better to hear it. Unless there is some international convention at play, the first court can’t transfer the proceedings to tge other court, but just strikes them out and invites the counterparties to have at it if they so choose.

This is the basis for the boilerplate in your governing law clause that neither party objects to the choice of law or jurisdiction on the grounds that it is not a convenient forum. Because if you are dealing with foreigners, and you have selected English law as your governing courts, it won’t do for some Italian to try to move the proceedings to Palermo where, for example, rules about service of process are fiddly. Or something.

See also

• Governing law
• Jurisdiction
• Process Agent