The Doctrine of Forum Non Conveniens and its Application in Court Practice

Abstract

The law system is open and in constant change, that's why the analysis and application of new doctrines is one of the aims of the law. The changes in our country (such as gaining independence, acceptance of the new Code for the Civil Procedure) are really significant, therefore the analysis of the new doctrines is actual for the science. Furthermore the questions of international jurisdiction are not analysed in Lithuania. The term forum non conveniens is defined as although there are rules which govern where a lawsuit must be filed, sometimes the location is inconvenient for the witnesses or parties. If a party makes an adequate showing of inconvenience, the principle of forum non conveniens allows a judge to decline to hear the case or to transfer a case to the court which is an appropriate court for the case. The article presents the genesis and developments of this doctrine. The principles of forum non conveniens occurred in Scotland and later was accepted in other common law countries. The author emphasizes the advantages and drawbacks of these elements. The main point is that the court has discretion right to decline jurisdiction if the dispute has no objective connection with the forum state, the settlement of the dispute would be inconvenient to the parties and alternative forum exists. In addition the doctrine allows for the defendant to defend from the claim arguing that the plaintiff has selected improper forum. On the other hand the statistic information shows that when claims were rejected in USA or Great Britain plaintiffs got considerably lower damages in other courts. In these cases the liability of multinational companies who placed their business in the third world was limited. In this article the author analyses not only practice of foreign courts but also the situation in Lithuania. Pursuant to provision of art. 34 the Lithuanian court may transfer the case to another court if the dispute would be quicker and proper solved in another forum in Lithuania. This principle is similar to the elements of forum non conveniens. In the disputes with a foreign element Lithuanian courts solve the question of jurisdiction and the practice differ. Therefore in the conclusions the author suggests to apply this doctrine in Lithuania by incorporating the principles of forum non convenience in the Code for Civil Procedure.