A study analysing the ongoing work of the Hague Conference on the worldwide Judgments Convention was presented to the European Parliament’s Committee of Legal Affairs by University of Luxembourg professor Gilles Cuniberti and his co-authors.
The study was commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the JURI Committee.
The Hague Judgments Project aims at establishing a uniform legal framework for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in civil and commercial matters. The idea of an international instrument in this area corresponds to the reality of a globalized economy, where the flux of cross-border movements and transactions is in constant increase and leads to an equal intensification of cross-border litigation. The lack of a common system of dispute resolution at the transnational level results in uncertainty, furthers the costs of exchanges, and may even deter the economic actors from entering into cross-border exchanges.
The purpose of the study is to:
- explain the background and significance of the Hague Judgments Project;
- provide a legal assessment of the scope and content of the Draft Convention and identify the main legal challenges that may arise from its application;
- examine the relationship of the Draft Convention with other international conventions and assess the consistency of the legal framework provided by the conventions of the Hague Conference;
- reflect on the interactions of the Draft Convention with the EU legal framework on judicial cooperation in civil matters, particularly the Brussels I bis Regulation;
- consider the potential impact of the Draft Convention on the regulation of cross-border disputes and shed the light and evaluate its limitations;
- submit policy recommendations regarding the position of the EU vis-à-vis the Draft Convention and the development of a comprehensive and consistent legal framework in the field.
The study was co-authored by Prof. Pedro A. de Miguel Asensio (Complutense University of Madrid), Prof. Pietro Franzina (University of Ferrara), Prof. Christian Heinze (Leibniz University of Hannover) and Prof. Marta Requejo Isidro (MPI Luxembourg). It was presented in a public hearing in Brussels which brought together Members of the European Parliament, Commission representatives, the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference and other stakeholders with a view to discussing the ongoing negotiations on a worldwide Convention on the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.
The study can be downloaded online. Additional material from the hearing is available on the European Parliament website.