In a nutshell: The Hague Convention which aims at establishing a common framework for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in civil and commercial matters came into force in England and Wales on 1 July 2025. The Convention applies to agreements containing a non-exclusive or an asymmetric jurisdiction clause which is often used in ship finance transactions.

The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters was concluded at The Hague on 2 July 2019 (the "Convention 2019") and entered into force in the European Union (excluding Denmark) on 1 September 2023. The United Kingdom ratified the Convention 2019 on 27 June 2024. It came into force in England and Wales on 1 July 2025. The UK may declare in the future that the Convention 2019 shall extend to Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The Convention 2019 aims at establishing a common framework for the recognition and enforcement of civil and commercial court judgments between the contracting states. Since the UK's withdrawal from the EU on 31 January 2020, enforcement of English judgments within the EU and EFTA was no longer dealt with by the Brussels I Recast and the Lugano Convention. This created considerable uncertainty since different sets of rules applied to the recognition and enforcement of English court judgments depending on bilateral treaties or the national laws of the enforcement state.

Despite the UK acceding in its own right on 28 September 2020 to the Convention on the Choice of Court Agreements concluded at The Hague on 30 June 2005 (the "Convention 2005"), effective 1 January 2021, the problem was not resolved. The Convention 2005 is narrower in scope and only covers exclusive jurisdiction agreements, i.e. agreements which conclusively specify one or more states where the parties can bring a claim and the parties cannot bring proceedings anywhere else. 

Parties wishing for more flexibility, e.g. by using a non-exclusive or an asymmetric jurisdiction clause, were confronted with some uncertainty when English courts or judgments were involved. This uncertainty is tackled by the Convention 2019 which applies to agreements containing a non-exclusive or an asymmetric jurisdiction clause (the latter being also referred to as "hybrid"). A non-exclusive jurisdiction clause allows the parties to commence proceedings in any jurisdiction they consider appropriate. An asymmetric jurisdiction clause, on the other hand, provides for an exclusive jurisdiction for one party whereas the other party has the right to bring a claim in any jurisdiction it considers appropriate at the time of the claim. As aforesaid, asymmetric jurisdiction clauses are often seen in ship finance transactions where the lender wants to be entitled to bring a claim in any jurisdiction where the ship calls while usually allowing the borrower to bring a claim against the lender only at the lender's registered seat.

Following UK's ratification of the Convention 2019, English judgments will now be recognised and enforced under the Convention 2019 in the EU and the other contracting states, substantially facilitating the legal process. It is, however, important to note that the Convention 2019 only applies to judgments that result from proceedings which commenced after 1 July 2025. Thus, the relevant date for the Convention's application is not the date of the judgment but the date when proceedings commenced.

For the sake of completeness a claim in respect of an agreement with a non-exclusive or an asymmetric jurisdiction clause which is decided in an EU member state will also be covered by the Convention 2019 if the party wishes to enforce the judgment in England or Wales.

When choosing English jurisdiction the parties to an agreement should look carefully at the requirements that must be met in each case to fall under the Convention 2019, as well as at the restrictions of that Convention’s application. A court may also refuse to recognise and enforce a foreign judgment where the court considers that the proceedings leading to the judgment were manifestly incompatible with procedural fairness or public policy of the enforcement state. 

It is also worth mentioning that the Convention 2019 does not prevent recognition and enforcement of a judgment according to national law. However, the Convention 2019 must always be considered before a court refuses to enforce a foreign judgment. 

If you would like to discuss any aspect of this article in more detail, please contact Rebecca Oliver or Christiana Soukri.