International Jurisdiction over Consumer Contracts

Abstract

The Brussels Ia Regulation leaves businesses no feasible option for a choice of jurisdiction in cross-border B2C contracts. The recent judgment by the European Court of Justice in the Ryanair case confirms that the Court will not tolerate any attempts to circumvent the regulatory aim of effective consumer protection detailed in the Regulation. However, this consumer-friendly approach comes with some notable disadvantages that affect not only companies engaged in cross-border commerce, but the European Single Market as well. Innovations in procedural technology offer ways to cushion such drawbacks and relieve the pressure of assigning international jurisdiction to the domicile of one or the other contractual party.