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On 1 September 2023, the Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters entered into force in Ukraine
The text of the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (the Convention) was adopted on 2 July 2019 at the 22nd Diplomatic Session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, attended by a delegation of Ukraine.
The European Union acceded to the Convention in August 2022 on behalf of all its member states except Denmark, and Ukraine ratified it on the same day, with entry into force on 1 September 2023. Ukraine thus became the second state to sign the Convention (after Uruguay).
The states that have signed but not ratified the document are Uruguay, Israel, Costa Rica, Russia, the USA, Montenegro and North Macedonia.
The aim of the Convention is to create a global mechanism of uniform rules for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.
The Convention is intended to facilitate access to justice for market participants and give them certainty and predictability, reducing costs, time and risks in doing business.
The Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters is a universal multilateral international instrument that establishes, for the states that are or will become its Parties, common rules for the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil or commercial matters rendered by the courts of the Parties to the Convention.
In other words, since as of 01.09.2023 the Convention has been ratified only by Ukraine and the European Union (except Denmark), EU member states will recognise Ukrainian court judgments, and Ukraine will recognise judgments rendered in the member states.
The Convention applies to the mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil or commercial matters between its Contracting States. However, under Article 2 the Convention does not apply to judgments concerning:
- the status and legal capacity of natural persons;
- maintenance obligations and other family law matters;
- activities of armed forces;
- succession;
- insolvency;
- intellectual property;
- the carriage of passengers and goods;
- transboundary marine pollution and other maritime law matters;
- liability for nuclear damage;
- the validity, nullity or dissolution of legal persons or associations of natural or legal persons, and the validity of decisions of their organs;
- the validity of entries in public registers;
- defamation;
- privacy;
- law enforcement activities;
and certain other categories of cases.
In addition, the Convention does not apply to arbitration and related proceedings.
