Still wondering about enforcement of judgments post-Brexit? Hague 19 now fills a gap

If you are wondering about the position on recognising and enforcing judgments in the EU since the UK left the EU, you are not the only person.  The new regime, referred to as “Hague 19”, came into force on 1 July 2025. Its formal name is the Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters.

It is now the regime for recognition and enforcement of judgments between England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland and the EU member states except for Denmark.

What are the benefits of Hague 19 and important things to note?

1. Very importantly, Hague 19 does not cover rules for working out which contracting state has the jurisdiction to hear a dispute. This is a big difference to what we all would have been used to under the Brussels Convention regime and the Lugano Convention regime. Hague 19 is simply about recognising and enforcing judgments in the contracting states.
2. It applies to the recognition and enforcement of judgments where the proceedings in question were commenced after 1 July 2025.
3. It applies to recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters. This requirement readers familiar with the old Brussels and Lugano Convention regimes will recognise. So, it applies to commercial contracts, consumer contracts, employment contracts and property rights. It does not apply inter alia to matters involving administrative law, bankruptcy, competition law, customs, family law, intellectual property, revenue law, wills and probate. Importantly – for the majority of our readers – it does not apply to arbitration, the carriage of goods (or the carriage of passengers), general average, limitation of liability for maritime claims, marine pollution.
4. It applies to both monetary and non-monetary judgments. Interim measures are not judgments eg a freezing injunction.
5. A judgment will be able to be recognised and enforced in another contracting state in a number of situations.  For example,
• the person against whom recognition or enforcement is sought is the person that brought the claim, other than a counterclaim, on which the judgment is based;
• the defendant expressly consented to the jurisdiction of the court of origin in the course of the proceedings in which the judgment was given.
• the judgment ruled on a contractual obligation and it was given by a court of the state in which performance of that obligation took place, or should have taken place, in accordance with (i) the agreement of the parties, or (ii) the law applicable to the contract, in the absence of an agreed place of performance, unless the activities of the defendant in relation to the transaction clearly did not constitute a purposeful and substantial connection to that state. 
6. Recognition and enforcement can be postponed or refused if the judgment is the subject of review in the state of origin or the time limit for seeking ordinary review had not expired.  However, a refusal does not prevent a subsequent application to recognise or enforce the judgment.
7. Recognition or enforcement may also be refused if a judgment awards damages that do not compensate a party for the actual loss or harm suffered. The court will take into account whether and to what extent the damages awarded cover costs and expenses relating to the proceedings.  It will be interesting to see how this provision works in practice.

The hope is that Hague 19 will apply more widely and provide a framework for easier enforcement of English judgments in a wide range of countries and not just the EU ones (excluding Denmark). As at the time of writing, Hague 19 is also in force for Ukraine and Uruguay. It will enter into force for Albania, Andorra and Montenegro in 2026.

Importantly, Hague 19 does not supersede the Lugano Convention, which continues to regulate the recognition and enforcement of many civil and commercial judgments between the EU and EFTA countries (Iceland, Norway and Switzerland). The hope is that the UK becomes a party to the Lugano Convention in due course. Its accession to the convention requires the agreement of all signatories, including the EU (which has not yet given consent as the European Commission thought that this was not in the EU’s interests).  In the meantime, Hague 19 fills at least some of the vacuum created post-Brexit in relation to recognising and enforcing English Law judgments.

Finally, a reminder regarding recognising and enforcing English Law judgments (or arbitration awards) in countries not party to Hague 19. This may be regulated by other bilateral or multilateral treaties, or by applying domestic legislation. We are able to check for clients in relation to each country concerned.