FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Barbara Levy, Paul Talbourdet and Alison Vogt, De Pardieu Brocas Maffei
to a judgment were initiated at a time when the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention was in force for both the state of origin and the state where the judgment is to be enforced. It is also worth noting that the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention provides for a number of circumstances in which a contracting state may make declarations that limit its application – for example, a state with a strong interest in not applying the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention to a specific matter can declare that it will not be applied to that matter. A contracting state can also refuse to have a reciprocal relationship with another contracting state. There are also provisions stating that the convention will not affect the applica - tion of other treaties where certain criteria are met. On 29 August 2022, the EU deposited its instrument of accession to the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention, becoming the largest contracting party to the conven - tion. Shortly afterwards, Ukraine deposited its own instrument of ratification. The convention entered into force on 1 September 2023, including for Ukraine. The EU’s accession is binding on all its member states, with the exception of Denmark. Brexit led to the end of the application of the Brus - sels 1a Regulation and the Lugano Convention on 1 January 2021. In a judgment rendered on 13 Septem - ber 2023, the Cour de cassation held that the Luga - no Convention kept applying during the transitional period. After the UK’s application to re-accede to this convention was refused, the country signed the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention to facilitate the cross- border circulation of certain judgments. The 2019 Hague Judgments Convention will take effect on the first day of the month following the expiry of a period of 12 months after the contracting states are notified of the UK’s deposit of an instrument of ratification. The UK ratified the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention on 27 June 2024, for an entry into force on 1 July 2025. In the meantime, either the 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements or the domestic law will apply. The 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements ensures the effectiveness of exclu - sive choice of court agreements concluded in civil and commercial matters in an international context. Cur -
rently in force in the EU27, the UK, Mexico, Singa - pore and Montenegro, the 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements provides a framework for the mutual enforcement of judgments across its con - tracting states, so that a judgment given by a court of a contracting state designated by an exclusive choice of court agreement will be recognised and enforced in all contracting states. If the 2005 Hague Conven - tion on Choice of Court Agreements does not apply, the domestic law of France or the UK will govern the enforcement of judgments. 3.3 Categories of Foreign Judgments Not Enforced In the absence of an international convention between France and the country that issued the judgment, non-EU judgments shall be enforceable if the follow - ing conditions as set by current French case law are satisfied: • the court that initially issued the judgment had jurisdiction over the case; • the foreign judgment and its effects do not breach French international public policy; and • the foreign judgment was not procured by fraud. Under the Brussels 1a Regulation, a judgment issued in an EU member state that is enforceable in that member state shall be enforceable in other EU mem - ber states. 3.4 Process of Enforcing Foreign Judgments Subject to special regimes set out by bilateral or multilateral conventions, the legal framework under which a foreign judgment rendered outside the EU may be enforced in France is the French Code of Civil Procedure and the French Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures, supplemented by the relevant case law. In practice, creditors seeking to recover a claim in France will seek an enforcement order (exequatur). To obtain an exequatur, which is not an act of enforce - ment according to a judgment rendered by the Cour de cassation on 1 March 2023, the judgment credi - tor must summon the opposing party before the tri- bunal judiciaire . The application may be made to the court of the opposing party’s domicile or the court of the place where the enforcement is sought. On 11
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