Interaction between the doctrines of forum non conveniens, judgment enforcement, and the concept of the rule of law in transnational litigation in the United States

• Forum non conveniens, judgment enforcement – fundamentals in transnational litigation in the U.S.
• Forum non conveniens gives U.S. courts discretion to dismiss a transnational suit.
• Judgment enforcement determines whether a foreign judgment will be enforced in the U.S.
• The doctrines applied in the same dispute can produce a lacuna in access to justice.
• The application of the doctrines in the same dispute might not obey the rule of law.

This article analyses the application of the forum non conveniens and the judgment enforcement doctrines in the United States courts and questions its conformity with the concept of the rule of law. The concept of the rule of law, the general principle of international law, inter alia requires accessibility of law, that questions of legal right should be decided by law not discretion, and compliance by the state with its obligations in international law. The systematic analysis by the author of this article shows that the application of the two doctrines in the same dispute firstly might deny accessibility of law and later restrict the possibility to find a solution. Such application by the United States courts can create a lacuna in access to justice. Thus, the following denial of effective access to justice, applying the two doctrines, might not obey the concept of the rule of law.