Title: In pursuit of substantial justice: navigating between flexibility and certainty in international commercial law

Authors: Pontian N. Okoli

Addresses: University of Dundee, Scotland, UK

Abstract: The competing approaches of legal certainty and legal flexibility have since formed a significant debate in international commercial law. This article, in the main, argues from a common law perspective using thematic analyses in the following respects: the quest for justice, the possibility of developing a common legal culture in light of some commercial uncertainties and the real status of legal certainty in the European Union with respect to the Brussels Regulation. It concludes that there is a need to develop a framework which guarantees substantial regularity without compromising the need to ensure that substantial justice always prevails.

Keywords: Brussels 1; substantial justice; international commercial litigation; European Court of Justice; forum non conveniens; legal certainty; legal flexibility; common law; conflict of laws; judicial discretion; commercial law; European Union.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPL.2014.064929

International Journal of Private Law, 2014 Vol.7 No.4, pp.376 - 386

Published online: 31 Oct 2014 *

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