Arbitration clause vs. clause referring to the ordinary law rule of jurisdiction

In a ruling handed down on February 25, 2016, the Paris Court of Appeal decided that where the same contract contains both an arbitration clause and a general clause stipulating that disputes will be submitted to the competent courts, the arbitration clause must prevail as a special clause.

However, this ruling does not call into question other case law (CA Paris 1ère ch. 22 novembre 2000 Saadi c/Huan) according to which, in the concomitant presence in the same contract of an arbitration clause and a jurisdiction clause conferring jurisdiction on a particular court, these two clauses are neutralized, so that the ordinary law rule on jurisdiction applies.