In a judgment handed down on February 27, 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) confirmed the validity of jurisdiction clauses containing asymmetry between the parties and clarified that this is assessed on the basis of autonomous criteria of EU private international law.
An asymmetrical jurisdiction clause requires one party to bring proceedings exclusively before a specific court, while allowing the other party to choose between at least two competent courts.
The French Supreme Court referred a question to the CJEU for a preliminary ruling on the validity of such a provision under European law.
The CJEU ruled that the asymmetry inherent in a jurisdiction clause does not call into question its validity, provided that it does not undermine the provisions relating to the protection of weaker parties (consumers, workers, insured persons) or exclusive jurisdiction. Furthermore, this option of bringing proceedings before several courts remains limited to the courts of Member States of the European Union or parties to the Lugano II Convention (Switzerland, Norway, and Iceland), in accordance with the requirement of predictability, and identifies objective factors that are sufficiently precise to enable the court seised to determine whether it has jurisdiction.
CJUE, 27 février 2025, Societa Italiana Lastre, aff. C-537/23.
