FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Barbara Levy, Paul Talbourdet and Alison Vogt, De Pardieu Brocas Maffei
Norway and Switzerland of 30 October 2007 (the “Lugano Convention”). 3.2 Variations in Approach to Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Variations in approach to the enforcement of foreign judgments may exist, depending on their jurisdiction of origin (eg, inside or outside the EU). If the judgment falls within the scope of the Brussels 1a Regulation, there will be no need for the grant of exequatur (enforcement order). The Brussels 1a Regu - lation shall apply in civil and commercial matters but will not extend – in particular – to revenue, customs or administrative matters, nor to the liability of the State for acts and omissions in the exercise of state authority. In addition, the Brussels 1a Regulation will not apply to: • the status or legal capacity of natural persons; • rights in property arising from a matrimonial rela - tionship or from a relationship deemed by the law applicable to such relationship to have comparable effects to marriage; • bankruptcy, proceedings relating to the winding-up of insolvent companies or other legal persons, judi - cial arrangements, compositions and analogous proceedings; • social security; • arbitration; • maintenance obligations arising from a family rela - tionship, parentage, marriage or affinity; and • wills and succession, including maintenance obli - gations arising by reason of death. Thanks to this simplified approach settled by the Brussels 1a Regulation, judgments rendered in EU member states will be easier to enforce than non-EU judgments. On 2 July 2019, the Hague Conference on Private Inter - national Law finalised a new treaty on the enforcement of judgments: the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Com - mercial Matters (the “2019 Hague Judgments Con - vention”). The 2019 Hague Judgments Convention creates rules for the circulation of judgments, except in cases where a judgment was produced on the basis
of a choice of court agreement between parties to an international dispute, which are governed by the 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements. The definition of “judgment” in the 2019 Hague Judg - ments Convention covers any decision on the merits given by a court in the civil and commercial context, with some legal exceptions set out in the convention – for example, there are certain subject matter exclu - sions, such as insolvency, IP, privacy or certain anti - trust matters. It should be noted that arbitration and related proceedings are excluded from the scope of the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention, as are judg - ments providing for interim measures of protection. To be enforceable under the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention, the judgment must meet one of the juris - dictional requirements set out in the convention – for example, relating to residency, consent to jurisdiction, place of performance of a contractual obligation, or jurisdiction agreements. The 2019 Hague Judgments Convention also gives a list of limited grounds on which recognition or enforcement can be refused (including where, broadly, there was improper notice of the proceedings, where the judgment was obtained by fraud, or where recognition or enforcement would be manifestly incompatible with public policy), with it being specified that under no circumstances may a judgment given in a contracting state be reviewed as to its substance under the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention. The Hague Conference press release describes the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention as a “game- changer in international dispute resolution”, which will provide “better, more effective, and cheaper justice for individuals and businesses alike”, even if its effect is more limited than the Brussels 1a Regulation regime. By way of example, recognition and enforcement can be refused on broader grounds under the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention. Nonetheless, it should be underlined that it will be some time before the 2019 Hague Judgments Con - vention can apply. First of all, it will only apply between those countries that ratify it and bring it into force (approximately 12 months after ratification); even then, it will not apply unless the proceedings that led
194 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook