The Competing Jurisdictions of International Courts and Tribunals

The proliferation of new international courts and tribunals has given rise to concerns of jurisdictional overlaps between judicial bodies. This book examines what would happen when the same dispute falls under the jurisdiction of more than one forum. It raises both theoretical and practical issues of coordinating between the various jurisdictions.

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Recent years have witnessed a sharp increase in the number of international courts and tribunals (WTO, NAFTA, ITLOS, ICC, etc.) and greater willingness on the part of states and other international actors to subject themselves to the compulsory jurisdiction of international adjudicative mechanisms. However, because of the uncoordinated nature of these developments, overlaps between the jurisdictional ambits of the different judicial bodies might occur, i.e., the same dispute could fall under the jurisdiction of more than one forum. This raises both theoretical and practical issues of coordination between the various jurisdictions.

The purpose of this book is to explore the implications of jurisdictional competition and to identify standards that may alleviate problems associated with the phenomenon, which arguably threatens the unity of international law. The first part of the book examines the jurisdictional ambits of the principal international courts and tribunals and delineates areas of overlap between their respective jurisdictions. There follows a discussion of some of the potential systematic and practical problems that arise out of jurisdictional competition (such as forum shopping and multiple proceedings) and a consideration of the expediency of mitigating them. The book concludes by identifying existing rules of international law, which govern inter-jurisdictional competition, and by considering the desirability of introducing additional norms and arrangements.