UK-wide Hague Judgments Convention expansion will improve efficiency of enforcement

In a significant development for cross-border legal proceedings, it was recently announced that the Hague Judgments Convention 2019, due to come into force in the UK this summer but previously limited to England and Wales, will be extended.  

Laura Gillespie, disputes expert at Pinsent Masons, said: “This extension will help avoid the challenging and unfortunate situation which would have arisen otherwise, whereby the ability to enforce foreign judgments across the UK would have been divergent and inconsistent.”

The international convention, formally known as the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (13 pages/371 KB), aims to facilitate the mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments across international borders. The convention provides a uniform legal framework for the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters between its contracting states. It is currently already in force for the EU member states except Denmark; Ukraine; and Uruguay.

The UK initially ratified the convention last year, marking a significant step towards enhancing its legal framework for international dispute resolution post-Brexit. The convention is set to come into force in England and Wales on 1 July, following a 12-month post-ratification period. Now, the recent announcement will see the convention come into force on a UK-wide basis, at the same time.

Joining the convention was considered an important measure to fill some of the gap left by the cessation for the UK of EU recognition and enforcement regimes upon its withdrawal from the EU – such as the Brussels I Regulation and the Lugano Convention.  The convention also has the potential to streamline cross-border enforcement globally, as and when more jurisdictions join up.

The decision to extend the implementation aligns with the government’s consultation response, which highlighted the benefits of a unified approach to the convention across all UK jurisdictions.

Laura Crilly litigation specialist at Pinsent Masons, said: “Extending Hague 2019 to Scotland and Northern Ireland will ensure litigants in those jurisdictions who wish to enforce their judgments in other contracting states benefit from the streamlined process already due to come into effect south of the border. The flexibility and commercial approach of its courts has made Scotland, for example, an attractive jurisdiction in which to litigate, including in matters with a cross border element. This development will ensure it remains so.”