Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
EXTENDING THE FREE MOVEMENT OF JUDGMENTS IN WESTERN EUROPE
James Young*
1. Introduction
The EEC Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (the Brussels Convention), implemented in the United Kingdom by the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982, has provided a radically altered basis for the enforcement of civil judgments between Member States of the Community. Two conventions, the Lugano and the San Sebastian Conventions, extend these principles to the rest of Western Europe, with the potential for their extension further east.
2. The Lugano Convention
The Lugano Convention,1 implemented by the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1991, extends the Brussels Convention framework to the rest of Western Europe. The Lugano Convention is one of the increasing number of close links being forged between the EEC and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).2
The benefits of the Brussels Convention for EEC Member States are obvious. The Convention replaced the diversity of bilateral arrangements with a uniform multilateral convention. By establishing uniform rules of jurisdiction applied by the court giving the original judgment (“the court of origin”), the court concerned with recognition or enforcement (“the court addressed”) does not generally investigate the jurisdiction of the court of origin. Furthermore, because of the economic, political and cultural proximity of the states involved, the court addressed has little reason to investigate the substantive merits of the original court’s decision.
All these benefits apply equally to free movement of judgments between EFTA countries and between EFTA countries and the EEC. Indeed, between them the EEC and EFTA encompass 350 million consumers, while more than 50% of EFTA states’ international trade is with the EEC,3 and the recognition of the importance of removing barriers to free trade between the EEC and EFTA is further
* Lecturer, Cardiff Law School.
1. Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters, opened for signature on 16 September 1988, OJ 1988 L319/9. The U.K. has been expected to ratify and bring into effect the Convention in the spring of 1992.
2. Austria, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
3. Jenard & Möller, Report on the Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters done at Lugano on 16 September 1988, OJ 1990 C189/57, para. 9.
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