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Will the UK join the Lugano Convention 2007?

By Oliver Browne and Tom Watret

Introduction

Conflicting reports have emerged in recent days as to whether the EU will approve the UK’s application to join the Lugano Convention 2007, the UK’s preferred regime for governing jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments with EU Member States after Brexit. This post briefly describes what the Lugano Convention 2007 is and why the UK wants to join it, and provides an update on the accession process.

Previous posts in this series consider the Lugano Convention 2007 in more detail (Part 1: here) and explain the rules that now apply to jurisdiction and enforcement of judgments in the UK following the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020 (Parts 2-4: here, here, and here).

English law, courts and arbitral tribunals may become more relevant and popular after Brexit, not less.

By Oliver Browne, Sophie J. Lamb QC, Sanjev D. Warna-kula-suriya, and Tom Watret

Introduction

English law, courts, and arbitral tribunals may become more relevant and popular after Brexit, not less, and parties should continue to feel confident about including English governing law and jurisdiction clauses in their agreements.

In particular, the breadth of English common law jurisdiction and the powerful tools at the English courts’ disposal – notably, the anti-suit injunction and damages for breach of jurisdiction clauses – are likely to ensure that jurisdiction clauses in favour of English courts and tribunals are complied with.

Four recent developments highlight the benefit of arbitration clauses amidst uncertainty about choice of court clauses.

By Oliver Browne and Tom Watret

Introduction

With the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020 fast approaching, four new important and interrelated developments have highlighted uncertainty about which courts will have jurisdiction in cross-border disputes and the enforcement of judgments from 1 January 2021:

  1. On 27 August 2020, the EU Commission published a revised Notice setting out its view of how various conflict of laws issues will be determined post-Brexit, including jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments (the EU Notice).[1]
  2. On 28 September 2020, the UK deposited its instrument of accession to the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements 2005 (Hague Convention 2005), ensuring continuity in application of the Hague Convention 2005 after the end of the Brexit transition period.[2]
  3. On 30 September 2020, the UK Ministry of Justice published “Cross-border civil and commercial legal cases: guidance for legal professionals from 1 January 2021” (the MoJ Guidance),[3] which is the UK equivalent to the EU Notice.
  4. On 1 October 2020, the deadline passed for the UK’s accession to the Lugano Convention 2007 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (Lugano Convention 2007) to be approved in time for it to apply as of the end of the Brexit transition period, absent some work-around agreed at the time of any eventual Free Trade Agreement (FTA).