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On the occasion of the second anniversary of the HCCH Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (2019 Judgments Convention), the Permanent Bureau is pleased to announce the publication of translations of the accompanying Explanatory Report in Albanian, Macedonian, and Bosnian-Serbian-Montenegrin languages. These are the first available translations after the official publication of the Explanatory Report in October 2020. They were supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Open Regional Fund for South East Europe – Legal Reform (ORF – Legal Reform). 

The GIZ ORF – Legal Reform project, on behalf of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), supports South East Europe (SEE) countries in the exchange of knowledge and the use of good practices to improve the conditions for cross-border enforcement of judgments. Aiming to facilitate promotion of the 2019 Judgments Convention, GIZ and the HCCH coordinated to provide translations of the Explanatory Report, the Convention and its Recommended Form. The Permanent Bureau wishes to extend its gratitude to GIZ for this generous contribution. 

The 2019 Judgments Convention, a gap-filler and potential game-changer in cross-border dispute resolution, can enhance judicial cooperation in SEE. It establishes a common framework for the global circulation of judgments in civil or commercial matters, overcoming the complexities arising from differences in legal systems. As such, the Convention will increase legal certainty and predictability and improve efficiency, while reducing the costs of international trade and easing the resolution of transnational disputes. The reduction of time and efforts relating to the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil or commercial matters, and the related increase of certainty and predictability as to the outcome, would greatly befit trade and investment in the SEE region and beyond. 

The Explanatory Report, prepared by co-Rapporteurs Professors Francisco Garcimartín (Spain) and Geneviève Saumier (Canada), was approved in September 2020. Although non-binding in nature, it will serve as an important and authoritative resource supporting relevant stakeholders to better understand the 2019 Judgments Convention as well as assisting them in its operation, implementation and uniform interpretation. 

An electronic copy of this publication is available for download in the Publications page of the HCCH website.  

More information on the 2019 Judgments Convention is available in the Judgments Section of the HCCH website.