On 23 April 2020, the Catholic University of Milan will host a conference on the Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters, or Hague Judgments Convention for short. The Convention was adopted on 2 July 2019 by the delegates of the 22nd Diplomatic Session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH).
In its press release in July 2019, the HCCH had claimed that the Judgments Convention will be a true gamechanger in international dispute resolution:
„This new Convention will be essential to reducing transactional and litigation costs in cross-border dealings and to promoting effective access to justice for all. It also facilitates rule-based multilateral trade and investment. The Convention will increase certainty and predictability, promote the better management of transaction and litigation risks, and shorten timeframes for the recognition and enforcement of a judgement in other jurisdictions, providing better, more effective, and cheaper justice for individuals and businesses alike. A true gamechanger in international dispute resolution.“
The Milan conference will evaluate this claim. Personally, for what it is worth, I remain sceptical that the Judgments Convention will attract a sufficient number of member states to become of practical relevance any time soon – as of today, Uruguay remains the sole contracting party – but am happy to be persuaded.
The Milan conference will be chaired by Fausto Pocar (University of Milan). Professor Pocar was the Chair of the Drafting Committee of the Judgments Convention, so you will hear from directly from the father of the Convention. Speakers will include Gilles Cuniberti (University of Luxembourg), Elena D’Alessandro (University of Turin), Francisco Garcimartín Alférez (Autonomous University of Madrid), Marko Jovanovic (University of Belgrade), Antonio Leandro (University of Bari) and Matthias Weller (University of Bonn). Luca Radicati di Brozolo (Catholic University of Milan) will provide some concluding remarks. João Ribeiro-Bidaoui, First Secretary of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, will deliver a keynote speech.
Pietro Franzina has brought this conference to my attention. Pietro has been a guest blogger here, as has Matthias Weller.
Here is the link to the conference website.