A recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada has held that a court may properly dismiss an action arising from an international commercial agreement, even after the defendant has filed a Statement of Defence. This decision is important since the contracts in issue contained both a forum selection clause and an arbitration clause, and the consequence of the filing of the Statement of Defence is not the same for each of those clauses.

In holding that the action could be dismissed after the filing of a Statement of Defence, the Supreme Court effectively applied the law applicable to forum selection clauses, not the law applicable to international commercial arbitrations.

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