The UK has submitted its application to accede to the 2007 Lugano Convention on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments.
Lugano currently applies as between the EU (including the UK, until the Brexit transition period comes to an end – currently scheduled for 31 December 2020) and EFTA countries (Iceland, Norway and Switzerland). The UK’s involvement in Lugano will however cease at the end of the transition period unless the UK accedes in its own right.
If the UK were to accede to Lugano, assuming no other agreement on jurisdiction and enforcement of judgments is concluded between the UK and the EU, Lugano would then apply as between the UK and the EU (as well as between the UK and other signatories). The result would be that there would be little change from the current regime in relation to jurisdiction and enforcement, so that English court judgments would continue to be readily enforceable throughout the EU and in EFTA countries, and English jurisdiction clauses would largely continue to be respected by those countries, and vice versa.
The UK will only be able to accede to Lugano if it has the unanimous agreement of the contracting parties – namely the EU, Denmark (which has an opt-out of EU treaties in this area), Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.
For further information, see this post on our Brexit blog.
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