Brief overview: Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments ("Hague Convention")

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Brief overview: Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments

The Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (“Hague Convention”) came into force throughout the EU on September 1, 2023.

Overview HAZÜ

Ukraine ratified the Convention in August 2022. As a result of this ratification and the previous accession of the European Union, the required number of member states was reached and the convention was able to enter into force one year later.

In the EU area (with the exception of Denmark), the Hague Convention will in future supplement the EU Brussels I Regulation, the Lugano Convention and the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements.

In addition to the EU and Ukraine, five other countries (Costa Rica, Israel, Russia, the USA and Uruguay) have signed the Hague Convention but have not yet ratified it. Its practical significance is therefore still limited to the relationship with Ukraine, as the EU GDPR in particular has priority among the EU member states.

The Hague Convention provides that judgments of a contracting state that are valid and enforceable there are to be recognized and enforced in the other contracting states. The prerequisite is that the foreign court bases its international jurisdiction on a ground specified in Art. 5 Hague Convention.

Art. 7 para. 1 Hague Convention defines six situations in which recognition and enforcement can be refused. These are the following cases, which are also included in the EU GDPR:

Poor delivery
Fraudulently obtaining the judgment title
Violation of the odre public
Breach of jurisdiction agreement
Conflicting judgment in the requested State
Conflicting earlier decision

Conclusion on the HAZÜ

For the time being, the Hague Convention has no significance within Europe due to the primacy of the EU GDPR. Beyond the borders of the EU, the RAPTA is primarily aimed at the USA, which is an extremely important economic partner but has not yet ratified the RAPTA. Accordingly, the Hague Convention is of very limited significance for the time being. Please also read my detailed article on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in Germany.

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Guide to International Civil Procedure: Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in Germany

Once a judgment has been successfully obtained against a German debtor abroad (in a third country), the creditor is faced with the important practical question of how to actually get his money.

If the German debtor does not pay voluntarily, only the enforcement of the judgment will help. However, since in most cases the German debtor only has assets in Germany that could be enforced, the foreign judgment must be enforced in Germany. This requires that the foreign judgment has first been declared enforceable by a German court. This declaration of enforceability is the subject of separate court proceedings against the debtor in Germany, at the end of which, if successful, an enforcement order will be issued.

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