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Post-Brexit, a key concern for parties to cross-border litigation within the EU has been the recognition and enforcement of judgments obtained in the UK and vice versa, particularly in Ireland given its very close ties to both Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Position Post Brexit
Recognition and enforcement of judgments within the EU is regulated by the Brussels I Regulation (recast) (1215/2012) (Brussels Recast). Brussels Recast provides that in most cases a judgment in any EU Member State will be recognised in other EU Member States without any ‘special procedure’ being required (in particular, without the need for a declaration of enforceability). This greatly reduces the cost, time, complexity and uncertainty of cross-border enforcement within the EU. With Brexit, this reciprocal framework between the UK and EU no longer applies and in the intervening years, a more cumbersome and costly process under common law rules was required.
An exception to this has been the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements 2005 (as implemented in Ireland by The Choice of Court (Hague Convention) Act 2015 (2015 Act)), which has allowed for a judgment given by a court in the UK pursuant to an exclusive choice of court agreement to be enforced in other contracting states, including Ireland, during this period.
Application of 2015 Act to Judgments in Default
Dillon Eustace successfully brought an application to recognise, in this jurisdiction, a judgment in default of appearance obtained by our client in the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland Queen’s Bench Division (Judgment).
An unsuccessful ex parte application had been made in the first instance pursuant to Order 42D of the Rules of the Superior Courts and section 5 of the 2015 Act for recognition of the Judgment. In refusing the application, the court indicated that this was the first occasion on which an application of this nature had come before it. It was determined that the Judgment did not come within the definition of a judgment in the 2015 Act as it was not a decision on the merits given by the Northern Irish court.
However, an appeal of this decision was granted by the High Court. The Judgment, which had been obtained in default of appearance, was recognised by the High Court pursuant to section 5 of the 2015 Act, enabling our client to pursue enforcement in this jurisdiction.
The Future
This clarification in respect of the applicability of the 2015 Act to default judgments is welcome for parties to cross-border litigation, ensuring that the streamlined and cost-effective procedures of the 2015 Act apply to in scope judgments, i.e. judgments obtained in a contracting state pursuant to an exclusive choice of court agreement.
In a further and wide-reaching development, the Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters 2019 has now entered into force in the UK, providing again for much broader reciprocal recognition and enforcement of in scope judgments between the UK and EU in respect of proceedings commenced from 01 July 2025.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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