By Guillaume Croisant (Linklaters LLP)
The UK deposited an instrument of accession to the Hague Conference of 30 June 2005 on Selection of Court docket Agreements (the “Conference”) on 28 September 2020. This instrument of accession turned efficient after the Brexit’s transition interval, on 1 January 2021, and gained binding pressure throughout the UK authorized order following the adoption of the Non-public Worldwide Regulation (Implementation of Agreements) Act 2020.
As many readers can be conscious, an argument exists concerning the temporal scope of the Conference. It applies to unique selection of court docket agreements concluded after its entry into pressure for the State of the chosen court docket and to disputes initiated after its entry into pressure for the State of the seized court docket. EU Member States have been sure by the Hague Conference since its approval by the European Union on 1 October 2015, however what in regards to the UK after its withdrawal from the EU?
In line with a primary viewpoint, mirrored within the UK’s instrument of accession, ” In accordance with Article 30 of the 2005 Hague Conference, the UK turned sure by the Conference on 1 October 2015 by advantage of its membership of the European Union, which permitted the Conference on that date.”
Conversely, beneath a second viewpoint (apparently shared by the European Fee in its ‘Discover to stakeholders – Withdrawal of the UK and EU guidelines within the area of civil justice and personal worldwide regulation’ dated 27 August 2020, p. 9), the Conference may solely apply after the UK’s ‘unbiased’ ratification, which occurred on 1 January 2021. If this second perspective had been accepted, jurisdiction agreements concluded earlier than this date wouldn’t profit from the mutual recognition system established by the Conference.
In a judgment (in French) dated 27 March 2025 (C.24.0012.F), the Belgian Supreme Court docket (Court docket de Cassation/Hof van Cassatie) dominated in favour of the primary viewpoint, holding that “The Hague Conference of 30 June 2005 has been relevant to the UK as a sure State, owing to the European Union’s approval of the Conference, from 1 October 2015 till 31 December 2020, and as a contracting celebration from 1 January 2021. The argument, on this regard, that the UK ceased to be sure by the Conference following its withdrawal from the European Union on 1 February 2020, is with out authorized foundation.”
