International Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Judgments in the Era of Global Networks: Irrelevance of, Goals for, and Comments on the Current Proposals

The Hague Convention attempts to harmonize bases of jurisdiction and make enforcement of foreign judgments routine. At the same time, the diversity in substantive national laws in intellectual property and other areas permits nations to experiment with new and different approaches. A good international legal system will improve transnational litigation without running roughshod over national socio-cultural values, as embodied especially in intellectual property law. This Article ponders disparate factors that could diminish the importance of the whole effort, considers some values that should guide the effort if it is to go forward, and then reviews how selected provisions of the draft Hague Convention and the Dreyfuss-Ginsberg proposal meet these challenges.