This article explores the nature of public policy limits to the enforcement of forum selection clauses, recently considered by the Supreme Court of Canada in Douez v Facebook. The public policy factors relied on by the plurality of the Court, inequality of bargaining power and the quasi-constitutional nature of the right at issue, possess neither the doctrinal clarity nor the transnational focus necessary to guide the deployment of public policy in this context. Here, I argue for a public policy exception to the enforcement of forum selection clauses based on the doctrine of mandatory overriding rules. This approach would focus on whether a forum selection clause has the effect of avoiding the application of local norms intended to enjoy mandatory application in the transnational context. This conception of public policy would be a more coherent guide to the exercise of courts’ discretion to enforce forum selection clauses in cases like Douez.

中文翻译：

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在Douez v Facebook之后了解对论坛选择条款的可执行性的公共政策限制

本文探讨了加拿大最高法院最近在Douez诉Facebook案中对执行论坛选择条款的公共政策限制的性质。法院的多元化所依赖的公共政策因素，议价能力的不平等以及所涉权利的准宪法性质，既不具有教义上的明确性，也没有在这种背景下指导公共政策部署的跨国重点。在这里，我主张基于强制性压倒性规则原则的论坛选择条款强制实施的公共政策例外。这种方法将侧重于论坛选择条款是否具有避免采用旨在在跨国环境中强制实施的本地规范的效果。