Think about Law, Jurisdiction and Enforcement in the Post Brexit Era

When drafting contracts most people will be aware of the importance of putting in a law and jurisdiction clause. Post Brexit this has become even more critical particularly when your counterpart is based in the EU. This is because many of the legal conventions which used to apply to such matters as service of English Court proceedings out of the jurisdiction no longer apply. It is also worth pausing and thinking for a moment as to whether, once you have your judgement before the Courts here, you are going to be able to enforce your judgement in the country where your counterpart is based or whether they have sufficient assets within England to satisfy your judgement. The rules have changed since Brexit , you will normally require permission of the Court to be able to serve out of the jurisdiction. There are certain “gateway” conditions which need to be met before permission is granted. Also, many of the Conventions related to cross border enforcement in the EU no longer apply. So before entering into that contract with a EU counterpart take a few moments with your lawyer to find out how you can best protect yourself in case the contract goes wrong.

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