Asia Trade Agreements

Which law governs a contract with an Asian partner?

Georgia's private international law: it determines which country's law applies and which court is competent when facts connect the case to a foreign system.

Can the parties choose a foreign court?

Yes, if one of the parties resides or is domiciled abroad; agreements on specially protected categories of competence are void.

How is the form of a cross-border contract validated?

It is valid if it satisfies the law of the place of conclusion or the law of the subject matter; between parties in different countries, satisfying either country's requirements suffices.

What is the characteristic-obligation rule?

Absent a choice of law, the contract is most closely connected with the country where the party performing the characteristic obligation had its residence or administration.

5 min·8 Feb 2026

How the Governing Law Is Determined in Contracts with Asian Partners

Trade contracts with Asian countries, wherever their factual circumstances connect the case to a foreign legal system, are governed by Georgia's law on private international law. This law determines which legal order applies when facts connected with foreign law exist, and which norms of procedural law apply to the conduct of such a case. In practice this means that even when a contract is concluded with a partner from China, Japan, South Korea or another Asian jurisdiction, a Georgian court decides — precisely by these norms — which country's law prevails, which court is competent and which form of the transaction is treated as valid. Applying foreign law before a Georgian court is possible, but only within the limits allowed by Georgian legislation, and those limits are drawn by this same law.