PRC signs up to Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements

On 12 September 2017, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) signed the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements. The Convention provides greater certainty in cross-border litigation by increasing the effectiveness of exclusive jurisdiction clauses. In essence, it provides that courts of member states must respect exclusive jurisdiction clauses in favour of the courts of other member states, and must recognise and enforce judgments of the courts of other member states given pursuant to such clauses (subject to certain limited exceptions).

The PRC needs to ratify the Convention before it becomes a member state and is bound its terms. The Convention currently applies as between Mexico and Singapore and the EU member states (other than Denmark), and the UK government has indicated its intention that the UK will sign up to the Convention in its own right post-Brexit. The US and Ukraine have also signed the Convention but have yet to ratify it.

Once the PRC formally joins the Convention, there will be increased opportunities for the recognition of Chinese court judgments internationally and vice versa. For more information, see this post on our Asia Disputes Notes Blog.