2019 Hague convention ratified by the UK to allow recognition & enforcement of cross-border judgments
Annabelle Gauberti
Founding & managing partner of the law firm Crefovi, producer & host of the ?Lawfully Creative” podcast
Back in June 2021, so six months after Brexit, we published our article ?How to enforce civil and commercial judgments after Brexit?” which explained and concluded that the United Kingdom (?UK”) had, basically, no solid legal framework in place, to efficiently recognise and enforce civil and commercial judgments handed down in a European Union (?EU”) member-state. The opposite was true too, whereby UK civil and commercial judgments became difficult to recognise and enforce in any EU member-state, post Brexit. So, without the 2007 Lugano convention – which the UK has still not joined – the default position, after the Brexit transition date of 1 January 2021, was that jurisdiction and enforcement of judgments for new cases issued in the UK would be determined by the domestic law of each UK jurisdiction (i.e. the common law of England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, respectively), supplemented by the Hague Convention dated 30 June 2005 on choice of court agreements. Quite a dreadful ?tableau”, if you ask me, not at all conducive to efficient and smooth enforcement of EU judgments in the UK, and of UK judgments in the EU. However, a ray of hope is now shining on the whole area of enforcement of cross-border judgments because the UK recently ratified the 2019 Hague convention. So what changes? And when? And how?
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1. 2019 Hague convention: a short history and rationale for its adoption
With ever-increasing globalisation and the growth of cross-border interactions of all kinds between civil and commercial parties, disputes are an inevitable occurrence.
In the 1990s, the Hague conference on private international law (?HCCH”) recognised that an effective and smooth regime for international transactions would require tools that enable swift and uncomplicated recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.
In the sphere of arbitration, the quintessential instrument that facilitates the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards is the 1958 New York convention (the ?NY convention”). The HCCH’s initial aim in the 1990s was to create a counterpart to the NY convention that would enable straightforward recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.
However, the endeavour proved rather unsuccessful initially due to a lack of consensus on an array of divisive issues.
Consequently, the HCCH’s ambition had to be curtailed, so that the HCCH temporarily settled to adopt the Hague convention dated 30 June 2005 on choice of court agreements (the ?2005 Hague convention”). The aim of the 2005 Hague convention is to ensure the effectiveness of choice of court agreements by commercial parties as well as to facilitate recognition and enforcement of judgments rendered under such agreements.
The HCCH hence viewed the 2005 Hague convention as an important achievement, but one that required additional building blocks.
In 2011, the HCCH opted again to look into the possibility of drafting ?a global instrument on matters relating to jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters”. Eventually, the lack of consensus on divisive matters was overcome, and the much-needed additional building blocks were finally added in the form of the convention dated 2 July 2019 on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in civil or commercial matters (the ?2019 Hague convention”).
The number of ratifications of both the 2005 Hague convention and the 2019 Hague convention remains low. Indeed, the former boasts nine ratifications (Albania, the EU – covering the European territory of all member-states except Denmark, Denmark, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Singapore, Ukraine and the UK), while the latter has only been ratified by four parties (the EU – except Denmark, Ukraine, the UK and Uruguay). That being said, both Hague conventions have been ratified by the EU, which inflates the number of countries (as there are 27 EU member-states) in which these two instruments apply.
2. What just happened? The 2019 Hague convention got ratified by the UK, that’s what!
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领英推荐
Crefovi's live webinar:?2019 Hague convention ratified by the UK to allow recognition & enforcement of cross-border judgments
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25 October?2024?| 15:00pm London time
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Crefovi's live webinar will begin on Friday 25?October 2024 at 15:00pm London time (UK), and will provide an update on the enforcement and recognition of UK judgments in Europe, and vice versa, since England & Wales ratified the 2019 Hague convention.
You haven’t yet secured your free place for our upcoming webinar on litigation law and enforcement of judgments?
Here is your chance to join Annabelle Gauberti on Friday 25?October?2024, 15:00pm London time (UK) as she explores the impact from the ratification by England & Wales of the 2019 Hague convention, on the recognition and enforcement of cross-border judgments, in the UK and Europe.
In this webinar, our expert speaker will discuss:?
1. 2019 Hague convention: a short history and rationale for its adoption
2. What just happened? The 2019 Hague convention got ratified by the UK, that’s what!
3. Geographic scope of the 2019 Hague convention in the UK and beyond
4.?Key provisions of the 2019 Hague convention
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