Our German Desk
A common issue for New Zealand companies engaging in international trade and dealing with foreign counterparties is how and where to resolve disputes and ensuring payment is received when the dispute is successfully resolved. Parties in cross-border disputes who obtain judgments against the other are often put to the extra time and expense of enforcing the judgment in another jurisdiction in order to recover any judgment sum awarded.
New Zealand companies will usually want New Zealand law and jurisdiction to apply to their commercial agreements, but even if a New Zealand judgment against a foreign counterparty is obtained, they may still have to issue enforcement proceedings in the foreign jurisdiction in which the counterparty is located. Often such proceedings can be difficult to conclude successfully.
In July and August 2019, two new international conventions were adopted by international organisations to address these issues. The Hague Convention on the Recognition of Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (Judgments Convention) and the UN Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (Singapore Convention on Mediation) seek to implement a universal regime for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and mediated settlement agreements, replicating the success of the 1958 New York Convention on the enforcement of arbitration awards. Please click through to read the entire article.
