Hague Judgments Convention Signed by the United Kingdom
On 12 January 2024, the United Kingdom signed the Hague Convention of 2 July 2019 on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in civil or commercial matters. As reported by Ugljesa Grusic on this blog, the UK government had announced some weeks ago its intention to move towards joining the Convention.
The next step will consist for the UK in ratifying the Convention.
The Convention will then enter into force for the UK pursuant to Article 28(2), that is, “on the first day of the month following the expiration of the period during which notifications may be made in accordance with Article 29(2)” with respect to the UK.
The notifications referred to in Article 29(2) are statements whereby a Contracting State may inform the depositary, within twelve months, that the ratification of another State (the UK, in the circumstances) “shall not have the effect of establishing relations between the two States pursuant to this Convention”. In practice, Contracting States may decide that they will not be bound by the Convention vis-à-vis any State that would later join the Convention. The Convention is currently in force for the European Union and Ukraine (since 1 September 2023), and is set to enter into force for Uruguay on 1 October 2024. None of the latter States is expected to make use of this opportunity as regards the UK.
