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ดุลพาห

(1) Party interests

The most important consideration in civil and commercial matters is fairness

and justice to the parties. Generally, the parties have an interest in litigation at their
homes. In particular, the defendants have an interest in defending themselves not

far from their residences. Since the defendants are not able to choose the venue for
litigation, it may be unfair to require them to respond to an action far from home.

These interests are reflected in the “actor sequitur forum rei” principle. The parties
also have an interest in the predictability of the forum of litigation, which leads to the

use of choice-of-court agreements in contemporary business practices. Furthermore,
the parties have a common interest in the availability of witnesses and evidence. Such

interest can be used to justify the establishment of jurisdiction of courts where the
cause of action or subject matter of litigation exists, such as the location of immovable

property for litigation relating to immovable property or the place of tortious act for
a tort claim.

(2) Court and regulatory interests

The first interest of the court is judicial resources and manageable work load.

It is undesirable for the court to waste time and resources to conduct a trial for the
case which has insufficient connections with the court. Furthermore, it is inefficient

to produce a judgment which cannot be enforced locally. Enforceability of a
judgment normally depends on the presence of the defendants or their assets in the

territory of the court . Excessively wide jurisdiction, which requires an inadequate
102
link to the defendants, may result in an unenforceable judgment. Ease of application

of law is another interest of the court. It is easier for the court to apply its own law
rather than that of a foreign country. The applicability of foreign law is an important

factor that may make another forum more appropriate and lead to the discretionary
decline of jurisdiction. In addition, the state’s regulatory interests can also be used to

102. Hartley, “International Commercial Litigation,” 13.

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