Claims for Contribution and Reimbursement in an International Context: Conflict of Laws Dimensions of Third Party Procedure

As a claim for contribution or reimbursement is featured in a growing number of cases with international elements, it has become essential for commercial lawyers to develop a proper understanding of the transnational dimensions of such claims. The following list contains some of the questions that may have to be considered by the lawyers who are coming into contact with claims for contribution or reimbursement in an international context:

– Which courts have jurisdiction over a contribution claim? – What law governs when the contribution is sought by way of subrogation?

– What procedural requirements and jurisdictional requirements must be satisfied to bring a contribution claim in third-party proceedings?

– Can a contribution claim be brought in third-party proceedings where there is an arbitration agreement or a foreign jurisdiction agreement between the defendant and the third party?

– Is it possible to obtain an anti-suit injunction to restrain foreign proceedings corresponding to the domestic third-party proceedings or the original proceedings?

– Where the party to two adjacent contracts in a chain transaction expects that his liability under one contract will be covered back-to-back by his right of reimbursement under the other contract, to what extent is it possible to argue that the reimbursement claim is governed by the same law as the governing law of the original claim to ensure the correspondence of liability and the right of reimbursement?

In addressing those issues, the lawyers must be able to unravel the complexity of the situation from which the claim for contribution or reimbursement arises – the complexity created by the involvement of at least three parties (the original claimant, contribution claimant, and respondent to the contribution claim) and exacerbated by international elements which may embrace multiple jurisdictions and a plurality of legal systems. However, the lawyers will have difficulty finding accessible and comprehensive guidance when they have to advise clients who wish to bring, or are being threatened with, such claims in an international context. This book is aimed at filling this void by providing a clear account of the present law, establishing an analytical framework, identifying issues, and constructing arguments. The analytical framework adopted by this book revolves around the practitioner’s utmost concern, i.e. how to avoid obstacles to recovery on a claim for contribution or reimbursement.

The perspectives adopted by this book are mainly those of the English courts and English lawyers. However, the rules applied by the English courts are, so far as they are based on the Conventions deriving from the European Communities, the same as, or very similar to, the law of other European countries. The rest of the rules applied by the English courts are mostly based on the common law and will hence have much similarity to the rules applied in other commonwealth countries. This book will be serviceable also to readers in other countries since it presents the analytical framework that will be adaptable to their legal system and clarifies the policies relevant to each issue which are presumably universal to all legal systems.