The jurisdiction of the BICC is established pursuant to Article (10) of Legislative Decree No. (9) of 2024.
This requires the explicit or implied consent of the parties to submit a dispute to the Court. Party agreement constitutes the fundamental basis for the Court’s jurisdiction, reflecting its nature as an international commercial court grounded in party autonomy and the parties’ freedom to select the appropriate forum for dispute resolution.
Explicit Agreement to the Court’s Jurisdiction
An explicit agreement may take any of the following forms:
- A jurisdiction clause incorporated into the main contract; or
- A separate agreement concluded before or after the dispute arises; or
- Written communications or other means of communication that clearly evidence the parties’ choice of the Court.
The BICC Law requires that an explicit agreement be in writing or recorded by any means of communication that permits the information to be stored and retrieved at a later time. Furthermore, a jurisdiction agreement in favour of the Court is treated as autonomous and is not affected by the invalidity or unenforceability of the contract in which it appears.
View Article 10 of Decree-Law No. (9) of 2024 concerning the Bahrain International Commercial Court, which sets out the Court’s jurisdiction.
Implied Agreement to the Court’s Jurisdiction
An implied agreement to the Court’s jurisdiction occurs when one party initiates a claim or application before the Court without any prior agreement on jurisdiction, and the other party subsequently accepts the Court’s jurisdiction—either expressly, through written confirmation of consent, or implicitly, by undertaking procedural steps without challenging the Court’s jurisdiction.
Model Clauses on Party Consent to the Court’s Jurisdiction
The Court has prepared approved model Clauses for party consent to the jurisdiction of the BICC. They provide clear formulations that comply with the BICC Law, and may be adopted as drafted or modified by the parties, provided that such modifications do not conflict with the mandatory provisions of the Law.