Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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1. Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments ° Recognition and enforcement ° Definition of "judgment" ° Scope ° Court settlement ° Excluded

(Convention of 27 September 1968, Art. 25)

2. Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments ° Recognition and enforcement ° Grounds for refusal ° Strict interpretation ° Judgment irreconcilable with a judgment given in the State in which recognition is sought ° Treatment of a court settlement reached in the State in which recognition is sought as a judgment given by a court of that State ° Excluded

(Convention of 27 September 1968, Art. 27(3))

Summary

1. The definition of a "judgment" given in Article 25 of the Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters refers, for the purposes of the application of the various provisions of the Convention in which the term is used, solely to judicial decisions actually given by a court or tribunal of a Contracting State deciding on its own authority on the issues between the parties. That is not the case as far as a settlement is concerned, even if it was reached in a court of a Contracting State and brings legal proceedings to an end, because settlements in court are essentially contractual in that their terms depend first and foremost on the parties' intention.

2. Article 27 of the Convention must be interpreted strictly, inasmuch as it constitutes an obstacle to the achievement of one of its fundamental objectives, which is to facilitate, to the greatest extent possible, the free movement of judgments by providing for a simple and rapid enforcement procedure. Hence Article 27(3) of the Convention is to be interpreted as meaning that an enforceable settlement reached before a court of the State in which recognition is sought in order to settle legal proceedings which are in progress does not constitute a "judgment" within the meaning of that provision, "given in a dispute between the same parties in the State in which recognition is sought" which, under the Convention, may preclude recognition and enforcement of a judgment given in another Contracting State.