Introduction

This paper deals with an issue that has come to light as a result of the proliferation of different fora for the settlement of international disputes. The multiplication of international courts and tribunals in recent years, as well as the existence of international agreements with wide offers of jurisdiction, has given rise to a rather tangled situation where a number of disputes, arising out of the same set of facts, can be submitted to a range of different international judicial bodies. And we can see an example of this by considering the situation of a hypothetical foreign ...