UK to Join Hague Judgments Convention

Commercial Disputes partners, Gearoid Carey and Gerard Kelly explain why the UK’s recent decision to join the Hague Judgments Convention will make enforcement of judgments involving the UK much more straightforward once it enters into force.

As a consequence of Brexit, the straightforward routes for enforcement of judgments between Ireland and the UK, provided for under the Brussels Recast Regulation, fell away. The Lugano Convention was also unavailable. Accordingly, the only routes by which enforcement of UK judgments in Ireland or the reverse could be pursued was either under the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements or by way of common law enforcement. Both involve significant limitations. The Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements:

• Is limited to the courts of contracting states
• Does not apply to all types of cases, and
• Applies only to agreements entered into after a specified point in time

If the conditions of that instrument are not met, the only alternative is common law enforcement which only allows enforcement of money judgments. As a result, both are necessarily much narrower than what was available prior to Brexit. However, the UK has recently signed up to the Hague Judgments Convention.[1] The Hague Judgments Convention is broader in scope, and once it enters into force in the UK, it will extend the scope for the enforcement of judgments between Ireland and the UK.

Analysis

As we addressed previously, the Hague Judgments Convention entered into force in Ireland and the other EU Member States from 1 September 2023. In Ireland, this was reflected in the enactment of the European Union (Hague Judgments Convention) Regulations 2023.[2] It also applied in the other EU Member States from that date, and it offered another route by which foreign judgments from those jurisdictions may be enforceable in Ireland. However, the UK was not a party.

This meant enforcing a judgment involving the UK could still only be pursued subject to the constraints of the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements or by way of common law enforcement. The UK signed the Hague Judgments Convention on 12 January 2024. It appears that the necessary implementing legislation and court rules are being put in place to allow ratification to proceed. Following this, the Hague Judgments Convention will enter into force 12 months afterwards.

Once the Hague Judgments Convention comes into force for the UK it will adopt a uniform framework for the recognition and enforcement of judgments between the UK and the other contracting states, including Ireland. Although certain technical subject matters are excluded and ‘judgment’ is the same as under the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements, it will be significantly broader than enforcement under the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements, or indeed at common law. This is because there will be no need for an express jurisdictional choice, or for that choice to comply with certain time limits, as required by the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements. There will also be no need for the judgment to be a money judgment only, as required for common law enforcement. Accordingly, the Hague Judgments Convention should make enforcement of judgments involving the UK less restrictive.

Conclusion

The Hague Judgments Convention will be more relevant than the other enforcement routes currently available concerning judgments involving the UK once it enters into force in the UK. In that context, the UK’s recent signature of the instrument is an important development. Once it enters into force, it will necessarily be something to be considered not only when looking to enforce a UK judgment in Ireland, but also in making a jurisdictional choice in commercial agreements which provide for UK courts to determine any dispute.

For more information and expert advice on litigation matters, contact a member of our Commercial Disputes team.

The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other advice.

[1] Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters done at the Hague on 2 July 2019

[2] SI No 434 of 2023