UK to sign 2019 Hague Convention “as soon as practicable”

The UK government has decided that it will sign the Hague Convention of July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (“Hague 2019” or “the Convention”) as soon as practicable. This is a welcome step that will give commercial parties confidence that judgments from the UK will be enforceable quickly and easily in EU Member States and in certain other jurisdictions after the Convention enters into force for the UK. 

The main purpose of Hague 2019 is to provide a uniform approach to enforcing a wide range of civil and commercial judgments between Contracting States, which currently include the European Union (minus Denmark) and Ukraine. Several other countries, including Israel, Russia and the US, have signed the Convention but have not yet ratified it.

Following a consultation that ended in May 2023, the UK government has concluded that now is the right time for the UK to join Hague 2019 (by signing and subsequently ratifying), because:

• the Convention will provide legal certainty through the mutual recognition of judgments given in the UK and Contracting States, especially for businesses and consumers operating across borders;
• it will strengthen the UK’s attractiveness as a preferred venue for dispute resolution;
• early adoption of the Convention will give the UK an opportunity to be one of the first to apply and interpret its terms, thus driving the development of the Convention; and
• it will fill an important gap in the framework for the recognition and enforcement of civil and commercial judgments between the UK and the EU, as both the Brussels Recast Regulation and Lugano Convention ceased to have effect for the UK after its withdrawal from the EU.

The Hague Convention of 2005 on Choice of Court Agreements (“Hague 2005”) is currently the only multilateral treaty dealing with the enforcement of foreign judgments involving the EU from which the UK benefits. Hague 2005 provides for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments given by courts specified in exclusive jurisdiction clauses in contracts between parties. A key benefit of Hague 2019 is therefore the provision for recognition and enforcement of judgments where there is no contract between the parties or where there is an asymmetric or non-exclusive jurisdiction clause between the parties.

If you have any questions concerning the material discussed in this client alert, please contact the members of our Commercial Litigation practice.