ARBITRATION WORLD The “New York Convention for Litigation” By Ian Meredith and Benjamin Mackinnon (London) On 1 October 2015, the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements 2005 (the “Hague Convention”) came into force in the European Union (except Denmark). The goal of the Hague Convention is to establish a similar system for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments as currently operates for arbitration awards. Under the Hague Convention, exclusive jurisdiction clauses within agreements are to be respected, and judgments pursuant to exclusive jurisdiction clauses are to be enforced in contracting states. As a similar system has been in place for arbitration since the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958 (the “New York Convention”), some commentators have referred to it as the “New York Convention for Litigation”. THE HAGUE CONVENTION There are three basic obligations placed on contracting states under the Hague Convention: 1. A court of a contracting state that has been designated in an exclusive jurisdiction clause must not decline to exercise jurisdiction on the ground that the dispute should be decided in a court of another state; 2. A court of a contracting state other than that of the chosen court shall suspend or dismiss proceedings to which an exclusive choice of court agreement applies; and 3. A judgment given by a court of a contracting state designated in an exclusive choice of court agreement shall be recognised and enforced in other contracting states. 60 K&L Gates: ARBITRATION WORLD