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GAZETTE
APRIL 1989
An Introduct ion to the Jurisdiction of
Courts and Enforcement of Judgments
(European Communi t ies) Act, 1988
The Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of
Judgments in Civil and Commerc i al Ma t t e rs signed at
Brussels on the 27 th day of September, 1968 , was drawn up
by the Member States of the European Commun i ty in order
t o s imp l i fy t he f o rma l i t i es governing t he rec i procal
recognition and enforcement of j udgments in accordance
w i th Article 2 2 0 of the Treaty of Rome. In addition to the
original 1 9 68 Convention, there is a Protocol of 1971 on its
Interpretation by the European Court of Justice. There are
also the Accession Conventions of 1 9 78 and 1982 mak i ng
the necessary adjustments to cater for the accession of
Denma r k, Ireland, the Uni ted Ki ngdom and Greece. Ireland
recently ratified the Convention and it came into force here
on the 1st day of June, 1 9 88 by virtue of the Jurisdiction of
Cou r ts and En f o r c eme nt of J u d gme n ts ( Eu r ope an
Communi t i es) Act, 1988 (no. 3 of 1988) and Statutory
Inst rument No. 91 of 1 9 8 8 , wh i ch is the commencement
order for the Act.
The purpose of the Convention is
to provide rules for the deter-
mination of the jurisdiction of the
Courts of the Contracting States
and for the recognition and
enforcement
of
judgments
between these States, in civil and
commercial matters. The Con-
vention has been incorporated
directly into Irish law and its text is
set out in the First Schedule to the
1988 Act. Section 1 of the Act
defines Contracting State as:-
"(a) one of the original parties to
the 1968 Convention (Belgium,
the Federal Republic of Germany,
France, Italy, Luxembourg and
the Netherlands), or (b) one of
the parties acceding to the 1968
Convention under the 1978
Accession Convention or the
1982 Accession Convention (the
State, Denmark, the United
Kingdom and the Hellenic
Republic)."
Section 3 provides that the 1968
Convention together with the 1971
Protocol and the 1978 and 1982
Accession Conventions shall have
the force of law in the State. The
provisions of the Convention apply
only to legal proceedings instituted
after the entry into force of the
Convention in the State of origin
and, where recognition or enforce-
ment of a judgment or authentic
instrument is sought, in the State
addressed. (Article 34 of the 1978
Accession Convention - Third
Schedule to the 1988 Act).
THE RECOGNITION AND
ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN
JUDGMENTS
The main effect of the Convention
in relation to the enforcement of
by
Eileen McAuley, B.C.L.
Barrister-at-Law
foreign judgments is procedural.
Prior to the 1st day of June, 1988,
apart from maintenance orders
enforceable under the Maintenance
Orders Act, 1974, foreign judg-
ments for a liquidated sum of
money only could be enforced in
Ireland. This was done by bringing
fresh proceedings on foot of the
foreign judgment in an Irish Court
involving unnecessary delay and
expense. In contrast to this, the
Convention provides for almost
automatic recognition of judgments
granted in the courts of other
Contracting States together with a
quick and simple enforcement
procedure.
Certain classes of judgment are
excluded from the scope of the
Convention. Article 1 of the
Convention reads:-
"This Convention shall apply in
civil and commercial matters
whatever the nature of the court
or tribunal. It shall not extend, in
particular, to revenue, customs
or administrative matters. The
Convention shall not apply to:-
1) the status or legal capacity of
natural persons, rights in
property arising out of a matri-
monial relationship, wills and
succession;
2) bankruptcy, proceedings
relating to the winding-up of
insolvent companies or other
legal persons, judicial arrange-
ments, compositions and
analogous proceedings;
3) social security;
4) arbitration."
Article 1 of the Convention gives
rise to two questions: What are civil
and commercial matters? and what
is a court or tribunal? "Civil and
Commercial matters" are ordinary
private law matters. They do not
include criminal matters or public
law matters, so revenue, customs
and administrative matters are there-
fore excluded. Any questions that
may arise as to whether or not a
particular case falls within the scope
of the Convention are to be decided
on the basis of Community law.
Eileen McAuley.
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