UK signs up to 2019 Hague Judgments Convention

The UK signed up on 12 January 2024 to the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention, which will come into force 12 months after the UK ratifies the convention. It will then apply to judgments in proceedings started after that date. 

Currently, the convention is in force between the EU (apart from Denmark) and Ukraine only (and will enter into force for Uruguay on 1 October 2024). The other countries that have signed but not yet ratified the convention are: Israel, the US, Costa Rica and Russia. The government's press release on this can be found here.

When it enters into force in the UK, it will provide a simplified procedure for the enforcement of judgments obtained in other contracting countries where there was no exclusive jurisdiction clause entered into by the parties. For most commercial parties, there will be no need to rely on the 2019 Convention because their contract will contain an exclusive jurisdiction clause normally and so they can rely on the 2005 Hague Choice on Courts Agreement Convention instead. The 2019 and 2005 Conventions were needed to help replace the gap left by the UK leaving the Brussels Regulation post-Brexit.