The UK’s ratification of the 2019 Hague Convention

Clyde & Co considers how the UK’s recent ratification of the 2019 Hague Convention will herald a new era for the recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments.

Further to our update published at the end of May on the UK’s decision to join the Hague Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (the “2019 Hague Convention”), we are pleased to report that the UK ratified the Convention towards the end of June and it is due to come into force next year.

Entry into force (England & Wales only)

On 27 June 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Netherlands (who acts as the depositary for the Convention) announced that the UK had ratified the 2019 Hague Convention on that date. It will therefore enter into force between the UK and other Contracting States on 1 July 2025, that being the first day of the month following the expiration of a 12-month post-ratification period.

During this 12-month period, any Contracting State has the option to notify the depositary that it ‘opts out’ of the application of the Convention applying between itself and another State (Article 29(2)). If no such notification is made, the 2019 Hague Convention will become law on 1 July 2025 and thereby establish relations pursuant to the Convention between the UK and unnotified Contracting States.

As part of the ratification process the UK declared, in accordance with Article 25, that the Convention shall not extend to Scotland and Northern Ireland at this stage. Although this position could be modified at a later date, it is not immediately clear why those parts of the UK have been excluded, particularly since the government’s response to its consultation about joining the Convention stated that it had “concluded that the Convention should have UK-wide extent based on the benefits to all three of the UK jurisdictions expressed by respondents.”

What does this mean in practice?

Until the 2019 Hague Convention has entered into force on 1 July 2025, parties will not have certainty on which Contracting States the Convention applies between. Until this date parties are advised to maintain the status quo and follow the recognition and enforcement regimes that are currently in place, and which will continue to apply to proceedings commenced before 1 July 2025. Recognition and enforcement of judgments via the 2019 Hague Convention applies only to matters in which “proceedings were instituted” after 1 July 2025.

The Convention deals with judgments in the civil and commercial context but some matters are outside its scope[1]. There is a positive obligation on Contracting States to grant recognition and enforcement, which can only be refused on the grounds specified in the Convention. Article 2 provides that “There shall be no review of the merits of the judgment in the requested State. There may only be such consideration as is necessary for the application of this Convention.”

Comment

As mentioned in our previous insight, the UK’s decision to join the 2019 Hague Convention is regarded as a positive development both in the UK and worldwide which will reinvigorate the useability of cross-border litigation[2] in the wake of Brexit.

The 2019 Hague Convention has the potential to facilitate the enforcement and recognition of English judgments overseas, including in the case of “asymmetric”[3] or non-exclusive English jurisdiction clauses. Such clauses are not expressly covered by the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements 2005, which applies to clauses granting exclusive jurisdiction.

Over the next 12 months, the legal industry will track if any Contracting States ‘opt out’ of the 2019 Hague Convention applying between it and the UK in order to assess the full scope and effect of this new cross-border legal instrument.  

A full copy of the 2019 Hague Convention can be found here.