This article analyses one of the most controversial phenomena – Forum Shopping, in which the parties to the proceedings strategically choose the most favorable jurisdiction or court in order to maximise their benefits. The aim of the study is to reveal the conditions, types, and evaluation of this phenomenon in EU and US contexts, and to analyse its positive and negative effects on the legal system. The article concludes that although Forum Shopping in certain cases may encourage the emergence of legal reforms and help ensure economic efficiency, it constitutes an abuse of procedural rights that violates the principles of legal certainty and consistency, contributes to the purposeful delay of proceedings, reinforces the inequality of the parties to the proceedings, and undermines the public’s trust in the legal system. The EU case law analysed in the article firmly limits the phenomenon of Forum Shopping, giving priority to the principles of legal certainty and predictability, while the US case law recognizes some legitimacy of the phenomenon, it has increasingly criticized it as a form of abuse of procedural rights.
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