On 1 July 2025, the Hague Convention of July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (the “Convention”) came into force in the UK. The Convention allows civil and commercial judgments from one contracting state to be more easily enforced in other contracting states. In practical terms, this means that an English court judgment rendered in compliance with the Convention can be directly enforced in EU Member States (except Denmark), Ukraine and Uruguay, which have ratified the Convention and in which the Convention has entered into force. From 2026, the Convention will also enter into force in Andorra, Albania and Montenegro. The U.S., Russia and a number of other countries have signed but not yet ratified the Convention; the Convention has therefore not taken effect in these countries yet.
We set out below some key highlights and the Convention’s impact from an English law perspective.
What is the Convention and why is it important?
The Convention provides a structured and clear process for recognition and enforcement of judgments across contracting states, akin to the New York Convention, which governs the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards. Having a set of uniform rules across contracting states is significant, as each country has its own domestic procedures and practices for enforcing a foreign judgment, which is commonly based on the public policy of international comity (i.e., the idea of respecting a foreign court’s sovereignty over the substantive ruling of the dispute). In addition to the domestic procedures, countries may also conclude reciprocal arrangements in order to facilitate the recognition and enforcement of judgments from certain other countries (and vice versa). In the absence of a uniform framework, parties have to navigate the complex matrix of domestic civil procedure rules and reciprocal arrangements in order to enforce a judgment.
In particular, there was some uncertainty as to the enforceability of English court judgments following the Brexit vote. While the UK rejoined the Hague Convention of 30 June 2005 on Choice of Court Agreements (“Hague 2005 Convention”) post-Brexit, the Hague 2005 Convention has a narrower scope, as it only applies to exclusive jurisdiction clauses and judgments issued pursuant to such clauses. Now, parties can rely on Convention for a more straightforward process to enforce judgments in a contracting state.
Scope of the Convention
The Convention only applies to civil and commercial matters. Key points include the following:
- The Convention only applies to claims filed in the UK courts from 1 July 2025 onwards.
- Judgments on costs can be enforced under the Convention.
- Interim measures are not considered as “judgments” and therefore cannot be enforced under the Convention.
- Certain types of disputes are excluded from the ambit of the Convention. This includes intellectual property, privacy, antitrust and insolvency matters.
- The Convention does not apply to arbitrations and arbitration-related proceedings.
- Judgments issued pursuant to exclusive jurisdiction clauses are not covered under the Convention, as they are governed under the Hague 2005 Convention.
- The enforcing court cannot review the merits of the judgment.
How does the Convention work in practice?
First, a judgment is eligible for recognition and enforcement if it meets one of the indirect jurisdictional grounds, which are largely based on connecting factors between the judgment debtor and the State of origin. By way of example, connecting factors include:
- Where the judgment debtor is habitually resident in the State of origin when proceedings were commenced;
- Where parties choose a jurisdiction clause in favour of the State of origin (other than an exclusive jurisdiction clause); and
- In the case of contractual claims, where the place of performance of the contractual obligation is in the State of origin.
Second, the procedure for enforcing a judgment under the Convention is largely similar to the procedure under the Hague 2005 Convention. For instance, a party seeking to enforce a foreign judgment in England will have to provide a certified copy of the judgment, register this in the High Court (which is an application that can be made without notice), and submit evidence that the judgment has effect or is otherwise enforceable in the State of origin.
There are limited circumstances in which courts of a contracting state can refuse recognition and enforcement under the Convention, which include where the judgment was obtained by fraud, or where recognition and enforcement would be manifestly incompatible with public policy.
Key Takeaways
The Convention is a significant development in the cross-border enforcement landscape. Post-Brexit, the UK ceased to be a party to EU regimes that govern the recognition and enforcement of judgments between EU Member States (such as Brussels Recast and the Lugano Convention). To date, the UK has not been able to rejoin the Lugano Convention. The post-Brexit position meant that parties had to navigate complex and diverging domestic rules and conventions in order to enforce an English judgment, or to enforce a foreign judgment in the UK.
While it does not allow for the enforcement of all types of foreign judgments, the Convention provides a degree of increased certainty for international commercial litigants by simplifying the process for getting English judgments recognised and enforced in the courts of EU Member States (and other signatories).
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