Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1991

• Citation: 1991 c. 12
• Sections: 123

Section 1 Implementation and interpretation of the Lugano Convention.

(1) The Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 (in this Act referred to as “ the 1982 Act ”) shall have effect with the insertion of the following after section 3—

The Lugano Convention to have the force of law.

(3A)

(1) The Lugano Convention shall have the force of law in the United Kingdom, and judicial notice shall be taken of it.

(2) For convenience of reference there is set out in Schedule 3C the English text of the Lugano Convention.

Interpretation of the Lugano Convention.

(3B)

(1) In determining any question as to the meaning or effect of a provision of the Lugano Convention, a court in the United Kingdom shall, in accordance with Protocol No. 2 to that Convention, take account of any principles laid down in any relevant decision delivered by a court of any other Lugano Contracting State concerning provisions of the Convention.

(2) Without prejudice to any practice of the courts as to the matters which may be considered apart from this section, the report on the Lugano Convention by Mr. P. Jenard and Mr. G. Möller (which is reproduced in the Official Journal of the Communities of 28th July 1990) may be considered in ascertaining the meaning or effect of any provision of the Convention and shall be given such weight as is appropriate in the circumstances.

(2) In section 9 of that Act, after subsection (1) (which, as amended, will govern the relationship between other conventions and the 1968 and Lugano Conventions) there shall be inserted—

(1A) Any question arising as to whether it is the Lugano Convention or any of the Brussels Conventions which applies in the circumstances of a particular case falls to be determined in accordance with the provisions of Article 54B of the Lugano Convention.

(3) After Schedule 3B to that Act there shall be inserted the Schedule 3C set out in Schedule 1 to this Act.

Section 2 Interpretation of the 1982 Act.

(1) Section 1 of the 1982 Act (interpretation of references to the Conventions and Contracting States) shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this section.

(2) In subsection (1), in the definition of “ the Conventions ”, for the words “the Conventions" there shall be substituted the words “ the Brussels Conventions ” .

(3) At the end of that subsection there shall be added—

“ the Lugano Convention ” means the Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (including the Protocols annexed to that Convention) opened for signature at Lugano on 16th September 1988 and signed by the United Kingdom on 18th September 1989.

(4) In subsection (2), for paragraph (b) (citation of Articles) there shall be substituted—

(b) any reference in any provision to a numbered Article without more is a reference—

(i) to the Article so numbered of the 1968 Convention, in so far as the provision applies in relation to that Convention, and

(ii) to the Article so numbered of the Lugano Convention, in so far as the provision applies in relation to that Convention,

and any reference to a sub-division of a numbered Article shall be construed accordingly.

(5) In subsection (3) (definition of “ Contracting State ”) for the words “In this Act “ Contracting State ” means—" there shall be substituted the words—

In this Act—

“ Contracting State ”, without more, in any provision means—

(a) in the application of the provision in relation to the Brussels Conventions, a Brussels Contracting State; and

(b) in the application of the provision in relation to the Lugano Convention, a Lugano Contracting State;

“ Brussels Contracting State ” means—

(6) At the end of that subsection there shall be added—

“ Lugano Contracting State ” means one of the original parties to the Lugano Convention, that is to say—

Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Hellenic Republic, Iceland, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom,

being a State in relation to which that Convention has taken effect in accordance with paragraph 3 or 4 of Article 61.

Section 3 Other amendments of the 1982 Act.

The 1982 Act shall have effect with the amendments specified in Schedule 2 to this Act, which are either consequential on the amendments made by sections 1 and 2 above or otherwise for the purpose of implementing the Lugano Convention.

Section 4 Application to the Crown.

The amendments of the 1982 Act made by this Act bind the Crown in accordance with the provisions of section 51 of that Act.

Section 5 Short title, interpretation, commencement and extent.

(1) This Act may be cited as the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1991.

(2) In this Act—

“ the 1982 Act ” means the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982;

“ the Lugano Convention ” has the same meaning as it has in the 1982 Act by virtue of section 2(3) above.

(3) This Act shall come into force on such day as the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Advocate may appoint in an order made by statutory instrument.

(4) This Act extends to Northern Ireland.

Section 1

in matters relating to a contract, in the courts for the place of performance of the obligation in question; in matters relating to individual contracts of employment, this place is that where the employee habitually carries out his work, or if the employee does not habitually carry out his work in any one country, this place shall be the place of business through which he was engaged;

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where he is one of a number of defendants, in the courts for the place where any one of them is domiciled;

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in the courts of the State where he is domiciled; or

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which is entered into after the dispute has arisen; or

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any loss of or damage to:

(a) sea-going ships, installations situated offshore or on the high seas, or aircraft, arising from perils which relate to their use for commercial purposes;

(b) goods in transit other than passengers’ baggage where the transit consists of or includes carriage by such ships or aircraft;

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a contract for the sale of goods on instalment credit terms; or

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which is entered into after the dispute has arisen; or

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(a) in proceedings which have as their object rights in rem in immovable property or tenancies of immovable property, the courts of the Contracting State in which the property is situated;

(b) however, in proceedings which have as their object tenancies of immovable property concluded for temporary private use for a maximum period of six consecutive months, the courts of the Contracting State in which the defendant is domiciled shall also have jurisdiction, provided that the tenant is a natural person and neither party is domiciled in the Contracting State in which the property is situated;

Section 1

If the parties, one or more of whom is domiciled in a Contracting State, have agreed that a court or the courts of a Contracting State are to have jurisdiction to settle any disputes which have arisen or which may arise in connection with a particular legal relationship, that court or those courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction. Such an agreement conferring jurisdiction shall be either:

(a) in writing or evidenced in writing, or

(b) in a form which accords with practices which the parties have established between themselves, or

(c) in international trade or commerce, in a form which accords with a usage of which the parties are or ought to have been aware and which in such trade or commerce is widely known to, and regularly observed by, parties to contracts of the type involved in the particular trade or commerce concerned.

Where such an agreement is concluded by parties, none of whom is domiciled in a Contracting State, the courts of other Contracting States shall have no jurisdiction over their disputes unless the court or courts chosen have declined jurisdiction.

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if such recognition is contrary to public policy in the State in which recognition is sought;

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The application shall be submitted:

—in Belgium, to the tribunal de première instance or rechtbank van eerste aanleg,

—in Denmark, to the byret,

— in the Federal Republic of Germany, to the presiding judge of a chamber of the Landgericht,

—in Greece, to theμονομελ^sπροτοδικεíο,

— in Spain, to the Juzgado de Primera Instancia,

— in France, to the presiding judge of the tribunal de grande instance,

— in Ireland, to the High Court,

— in Iceland, to the héraδsdómari,

— in Italy, to the corte d’appello,

— in Luxembourg, to the presiding judge of the tribunal d’arrondissement,

— in the Netherlands, to the presiding judge of the arrondissementsrechtbank,

— in Norway, to the herredsrett or byrett as namsrett,

— in Austria, to the Landesgericht or the Kreisgericht,

— in Portugal, to the Tribunal Judicial de Cigrculo,

— in Switzerland:

in respect of judgments ordering the payment of a sum of money, to the juge de la mainlevée/Rechtsöffnungsrichter/giudice competente a pronunciare sul rigetto dell’opposizione, within the framework of the procedure governed by Articles 80 and 81 of the loi fédérale sur la poursuite pour dettes et la faillite/Bundesgesetz über Schuldbetreibung und Konkurs/legge federale sulla esecuzione e sul fallimento;

in respect of judgments ordering a performance other than the payment of a sum of money, to the juge cantonal d’exequatur compétent/zuständiger kantonaler Vollstreckungsrichter/giudice cantonale competente a pronunciare l’exequatur,

— in Finland, to the ulosotonhaltija/överexekutor,

— in Sweden, to the Svea hovrätt,

— in the United Kingdom:

in England and Wales, to the High Court of Justice, or in the case of a maintenance judgment to the Magistrates’ Court on transmission by the Secretary of State;

in Scotland, to the Court of Session, or in the case of a maintenance judgment to the Sheriff Court on transmission by the Secretary of State;

in Northern Ireland, to the High Court of Justice, or in the case of a maintenance judgment to the Magistrates’ Court on transmission by the Secretary of State.

Section 1

An appeal against the decision authorising enforcement shall be lodged in accordance with the rules governing procedure in contentious matters:

— in Belgium, with the tribunal de première instance or rechtbank van eerste aanleg,

— in Denmark, with the landsret,

— in the Federal Republic of Germany, with the Oberlandesgericht,

— in Greece, with the^οερειο,

— in Spain, with the Audiencia Provincial,

— in France, with the cour d’appel,

— in Ireland, with the High Court,

— in Iceland, with the héraδsdómari,

— in Italy, with the corte d’appello,

— in Luxembourg, with the Cour supérieure de justice sitting as a court of civil appeal,

— in the Netherlands, with the arrondissementsrechtbank,

— in Norway, with the lagmannsrett,

— in Austria, with the Landesgericht or the Kreisgericht,

— in Portugal, with the Tribunal da Relação,

— in Switzerland, with the tribunal cantonal/Kantonsgericht/tribunale cantonale,

— in Finland, with the hovioikeus/hovrätt,

— in Sweden, with the Svea hovrätt,

— in the United Kingdom:

in England and Wales, with the High Court of Justice, or in the case of a maintenance judgment with the Magistrates’ Court;

in Scotland, with the Court of Session, or in the case of a maintenance judgment with the Sheriff Court;

in Northern Ireland, with the High Court of Justice, or in the case of a maintenance judgment with the Magistrates’ Court.

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If the application for enforcement is refused, the applicant may appeal:

— in Belgium, to the cour d’appel or hof van beroep,

— in Denmark, to the landsret,

— in the Federal Republic of Germany, to the Oberlandesgericht,

— in Greece, to the^^ετεήο,

— in Spain, to the Audiencia Provincial,

— in France, to the cour d’appel,

— in Ireland, to the High Court,

— in Iceland, to the héraδsdómari,

— in Italy, to the corte d’appello,

— in Luxembourg, to the Cour supérieure de justice sitting as a court of civil appeal,

— in the Netherlands, to the gerechtshof,

— in Norway, to the lagmannsrett,

— in Austria, to the Landesgericht or the Kreisgericht,

— in Portugal, to the Tribunal da Relação,

— in Switzerland, to the tribunal cantonal/Kantonsgericht/tribunale cantonale,

— in Finland, to the hovioikeus/hovrätt,

— in Sweden, to the Svea hovrätt,

— in the United Kingdom:

in England and Wales, to the High Court of Justice, or in the case of a maintenance judgment to the Magistrates’ Court;

in Scotland, to the Court of Session, or in the case of a maintenance judgment to the Sheriff Court;

in Northern Ireland, to the High Court of Justice, or in the case of a maintenance judgment to the Magistrates’ Court.

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a copy of the judgment which satisfies the conditions necessary to establish its authenticity;

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documents which establish that, according to the law of the State of origin, the judgment is enforceable and has been served;

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A person who is domiciled in a Contracting State may be sued in the courts of one of the States mentioned above in respect of a maritime claim if the ship to which the claim relates or any other ship owned by him has been arrested by judicial process within the territory of the latter State to secure the claim, or could have been so arrested there but bail or other security has been given, and either:

(a) the claimant is domiciled in the latter State; or

(b) the claim arose in the latter State; or

(c) the claim concerns the voyage during which the arrest was made or could have been made; or

(d) the claim arises out of a collision or out of damage caused by a ship to another ship or to goods or persons on board either ship, either by the execution or non-execution of a manoeuvre or by the non-observance of regulations; or

(e) the claim is for salvage; or

(f) the claim is in respect of a mortgage or hypothecation of the ship arrested.

Section 1

This Convention shall not prejudice the application by the Member States of the European Communities of the Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters, signed at Brussels on 27 September 1968 and of the Protocol on interpretation of that Convention by the Court of Justice, signed at Luxembourg on 3 June 1971, as amended by the Conventions of Accession to the said Convention and the said Protocol by the States acceding to the European Communities, all of these Conventions and the Protocol being hereinafter referred to as the “ Brussels Convention ”.

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This Convention shall not affect any conventions to which the Contracting States are or will be parties and which, in relation to particular matters, govern jurisdiction or the recognition or enforcement of judgments.

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This Convention shall be opened for signature by the States members of the European Communities or of the European Free Trade Association.

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After entering into force this Convention shall be open to accession by:

(a) the States referred to in Article 60(b);

(b) other States which have been invited to accede upon a request made by one of the Contracting States to the depositary State. The depositary State shall invite the State concerned to accede only if, after having communicated the contents of the communications that this State intends to make in accordance with Article 63, it has obtained the unanimous agreement of the signatory States and the Contracting States referred to in Article 60(a) and (b).

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This Convention is concluded for an initial period of five years from the date of its entry into force in accordance with Article 61(3), even in the case of States which ratify it or accede to it after that date.

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Switzerland reserves the right to declare, at the time of depositing its instrument of ratification, that a judgment given in another Contracting State shall be neither recognised nor enforced in Switzerland if the following conditions are met:

(a) the jurisdiction of the court which has given the judgment is based only on Article 5(1) of this Convention; and

(b) the defendant was domiciled in Switzerland at the time of the introduction of the proceedings; for the purposes of this Article, a company or other legal person is considered to be domiciled in Switzerland if it has its registered seat and the effective centre of activities in Switzerland; and

(c) the defendant raises an objection to the recognition or enforcement of the judgment in Switzerland, provided that he has not waived the benefit of the declaration foreseen under this paragraph.

Section 1

The Contracting Parties agree to set up a system of exchange of information concerning judgments delivered pursuant to this Convention as well as relevant judgments under the Brussels Convention. This system shall comprise:

— transmission to a central body by the competent authorities of judgments delivered by courts of last instance and the Court of Justice of the European Communities as well as judgments of particular importance which have become final and have been delivered pursuant to this Convention or the Brussels Convention,

— classification of these judgments by the central body including, as far as necessary, the drawing-up and publication of translations and abstracts,

— communication by the central body of the relevant documents to the competent national authorities of all signatories and acceding States to the Convention and to the Commission of the European Communities.

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A Standing Committee shall be set up for the purposes of this Protocol.

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At the request of a Contracting Party, the depositary of the Convention shall convene meetings of the Committee for the purpose of exchanging views on the functioning of the Convention and in particular on:

— the development of the case-law as communicated under the first paragraph first indent of Article 2,

— the application of Article 57 of the Convention.

Section 1

For the purposes of the Convention, provisions which, in relation to particular matters, govern jurisdiction or the recognition or enforcement of judgments and which are, or will be, contained in acts of the institutions of the European Communities shall be treated in the same way as the conventions referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 57.

Section 2

in matters relating to maintenance, in the courts for the place where the maintenance creditor is domiciled or habitually resident or, if the matter is ancillary to proceedings concerning the status of a person, in the court which, according to its own law, has jurisdiction to entertain those proceedings, unless that jurisdiction is based solely on the nationality of one of the parties;

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as a third party in an action on a warranty or guarantee or in any other third party proceedings, in the court seised of the original proceedings, unless these were instituted solely with the object of removing him from the jurisdiction of the court which would be competent in his case;

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in another Contracting State, in the courts for the place where the policy-holder is domiciled; or

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which allows the policy-holder, the insured or a beneficiary to bring proceedings in courts other than those indicated in this Section; or

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any liability, other than for bodily injury to passengers or loss of or damage to their baggage;

(a) arising out of the use or operation of ships, installations or aircraft as referred to in (1)(a) above in so far as the law of the Contracting State in which such aircraft are registered does not prohibit agreements on jurisdiction regarding insurance of such risks;

(b) for loss or damage caused by goods in transit as described in (1)(b) above;

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a contract for a loan repayable by instalments, or for any other form of credit, made to finance the sale of goods; or

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which allows the consumer to bring proceedings in courts other than those indicated in this Section; or

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in proceedings which have as their object the validity of the constitution, the nullity or the dissolution of companies or other legal persons or associations of natural or legal persons, or the decisions of their organs, the courts of the Contracting State in which the company, legal person or association has its seat;

Section 2

The court or courts of a Contracting State on which a trust instrument has conferred jurisdiction shall have exclusive jurisdiction in any proceedings brought against a settlor, trustee or beneficiary, if relations between these persons or their rights or obligations under the trust are involved.

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where it was given in default of appearance, if the defendant was not duly served with the document which instituted the proceedings or with an equivalent document in sufficient time to enable him to arrange for his defence;

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The jurisdiction of local courts shall be determined by reference to the place of domicile of the party against whom enforcement is sought. If he is not domiciled in the State in which enforcement is sought, it shall be determined by reference to the place of enforcement.

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The judgment given on the appeal may be contested only:

— in Belgium, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg and in the Netherlands, by an appeal in cassation,

— in Denmark, by an appeal to the højesteret, with the leave of the Minister of Justice,

— in the Federal Republic of Germany, by a Rechtsbeschwerde,

— in Ireland, by an appeal on a point of law to the Supreme Court,

— in Iceland, by an appeal to the Hæstiréttur,

— in Norway, by an appeal (kjæremål or anke) to the Hoyesteretts Kjæremålsutvalg or Hoyesterett,

— in Austria, in the case of an appeal, by a Revisionsrekurs and, in the case of opposition proceedings, by a Berufung with the possibility of a Revision,

— in Portugal, by an appeal on a point of law,

— in Switzerland, by a recours de droit public devant le tribunal fédéral/staatsrechtliche Beschwerde beim Bundesgericht/ricorso di diritto pubblico davanti al tribunale federale,

— in Finland, by an appeal to the korkein oikeus/högsta domstolen,

— in Sweden, by an appeal to the högsta domstolen,

— in the United Kingdom, by a single further appeal on a point of law.

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The party against whom enforcement is sought shall be summoned to appear before the appellate court. If he fails to appear, the provisions of the second and third paragraphs of Article 20 shall apply even where he is not domiciled in any of the Contracting States.

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in the case of a judgment given in default, the original or a certified true copy of the document which establishes that the party in default was served with the document instituting the proceedings or with an equivalent document.

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where appropriate, a document showing that the applicant is in receipt of legal aid in the State of origin.

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A claimant may arrest either the particular ship to which the maritime claim relates, or any other ship which is owned by the person who was, at the time when the maritime claim arose, the owner of the particular ship. However, only the particular ship to which the maritime claim relates may be arrested in respect of the maritime claims set out in 5.(o), (p) or (q) of this Article.

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However, this Convention shall in any event be applied:

(a) in matters of jurisdiction, where the defendant is domiciled in the territory of a Contracting State which is not a member of the European Communities, or where Article 16 or 17 of this Convention confers a jurisdiction on the courts of such a Contracting State;

(b) in relation to a lis pendens or to related actions as provided for in Articles 21 and 22, when proceedings are instituted in a Contracting State which is not a member of the European Communities and in a Contracting State which is a member of the European Communities;

(c) in matters of recognition and enforcement, where either the State of origin or the State addressed is not a member of the European Communities.

Section 2

This Convention shall not prevent a court of a Contracting State which is party to a convention referred to in the first paragraph from assuming jurisdiction in accordance with that convention, even where the defendant is domiciled in a Contracting State which is not a party to that convention. The court hearing the action shall, in any event, apply Article 20 of this Convention.

Section 2

The Convention shall be submitted for ratification by the signatory States. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Swiss Federal Council.