Choice of Court (Hague Convention) Act 2015
Acts of the Oireachtas
Source: Acts of the Oireachtas

num: 1
paragraphs: In this Act—
“Contracting State” means a state in respect of which the Convention has entered into force in accordance with Article 31 of that Convention and shall be construed so that this Act shall have effect in relation to—
(a) in case a Contracting State has declared pursuant to Article 28.1 of that Convention that the Convention shall extend to one or more territorial units within the State, the territorial unit or units concerned, and
(b) each other Contracting State;
“Convention” means the Convention on Choice of Court Agreements done at The Hague on the 30th day of June 2005;
“enforcement order” means—
(a) an order made by the Master of the High Court under section 5 of this Act for the recognition or enforcement of the whole or part of a judgment, or
(b) an order of the High Court on appeal from a decision of the Master of the High Court under that section,
and includes an enforcement order made or varied on appeal from a decision of the High Court;
“judgment” means a judgment or order (by whatever name called) that is a judgment for the purposes of the Convention and, except in sections 4 and 8 , includes a judicial settlement referred to in Article 12 of the Convention;
“Minister” means the Minister for Justice and Equality.
num: 2
paragraphs: (1) The Minister may, by order declare—
(a) that any state specified in the order is a Contracting State, or
(b) that—
(i) a declaration (the text of which shall be set out in the order) has been made pursuant to Article 19, 20, 21, 22, 26 or 28 of the Convention, or
(ii) a modification or withdrawal thereof (the text of which shall be set out in the order) has been made pursuant to Article 32 of that Convention, or
(iii) a denunciation (the text of which shall be set out in the order) has been made pursuant to Article 33 of that Convention,
to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
(2) An order that is in force under subsection (1) shall be evidence—
(a) as respects any declaration under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) in that order, that any state to which the declaration relates is a Contracting State, and
(b) as respects any declaration under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) in that order, that the declaration, modification, withdrawal or, as the case may be, denunciation concerned was made and of its contents.
num: 3
paragraphs: (1) The Convention has the force of law in the State and judicial notice shall be taken of it.
num: 4
paragraphs: (1) Judicial notice shall be taken of any relevant judgments delivered by courts of other Contracting States concerning provisions of the Convention and a court shall, when applying and interpreting its provisions, pay due account to the principles laid down by those decisions.
(2) Judicial notice shall be taken of the explanatory report by Trevor Hartley and Masato Dogauchi on the Convention and that report may be considered by any court when interpreting any of the provisions of the Convention and shall be given such weight as is appropriate in the circumstances.
num: 5
paragraphs: An application under Chapter III of the Convention for recognition or enforcement in the State of a judgment shall be made to the Master of the High Court and shall be determined by him or her by order (including an order for the recognition or enforcement of a judgment in part only) in accordance with the Convention.
num: 6
paragraphs: Subject to section 7 , if an enforcement order has been made respecting a judgment—
(a) the judgment shall, to the extent to which its enforcement is authorised by the enforcement order, be of the same force and effect as a judgment of the High Court, and
(b) the High Court has the same powers respecting enforcement of the judgment, and proceedings may be taken on the judgment, as if it were a judgment of that court.
num: 7
paragraphs: (1) When on application for an enforcement order, it is shown—
(a) that the judgment provides for the payment of a sum of money, and
(b) that, in accordance with the law of the Contracting State in which the judgment was given, interest on that sum is recoverable under the judgment at a particular rate or rates and from a particular date or time,
the order, if made, shall provide that the person by whom that sum is payable shall also be liable to pay that interest, apart from any interest or costs recoverable by virtue of subsection (2), in accordance with the particulars noted in the order, and the amount of the interest shall be recoverable by the applicant concerned as if it was part of the sum.
(2) An enforcement order may, at the discretion of the court concerned or the Master of the High Court, as may be appropriate, provide for the payment to the applicant by the respondent of the reasonable costs of, or incidental to, the application for an order.
(3) A person by whom costs recoverable by virtue of subsection (2) are payable shall be liable to pay interest on the costs as if they were the subject of an order for the payment of costs made by the High Court on the date of the making of the relevant order.
(4) Interest shall be payable on a sum referred to in subsection (1) only as provided for in this section.
num: 8
paragraphs: (1) For the purposes of the Convention—
(a) a document, duly certified, which purports to be a copy of a judgment given by a court of a Contracting State other than the State shall without further proof be deemed to be a true copy of the judgment, unless the contrary is shown, and
(b) the original or a copy of any document (other than a document referred to in paragraph (a)) mentioned in Article 13 of the Convention shall be admissible as evidence of any matter to which it relates.
(2) A document which—
(a) purports to be a translation of—
(i) a judgment given by a court of a Contracting State other than the State, or
(ii) a document containing a settlement referred to in Article 12 of the Convention, or
(iii) a document referred to in subparagraphs (b) to (e) of Article 13(1) of the Convention,
and
(b) is certified as correct by a person competent to do so,
shall be admissible as evidence of the translation.
(3) A document purporting to be a copy of a judgment given by a court of a Contracting State other than the State, shall, for the purposes of this Act, be regarded as being duly certified if it purports—
(a) to bear the seal of that Court, or
(b) to be certified by a judge or officer of that court to be a true copy of the judgment.
num: 9
paragraphs: (1) An application to the Master of the High Court for an enforcement order respecting a judgment may include an application for any protective measures the High Court has power to grant in proceedings that, apart from this Act, are within its jurisdiction.
(2) Where an enforcement order is made, the Master of the High Court shall grant any protective measures referred to in subsection (1) that are sought in the application for an enforcement order.
num: 10
paragraphs: Section 20A of the Jurisdiction of Courts and Enforcement of Judgments Act 1998 is amended by the substitution of “section 20J” for “sections 20H and 20J” in the definition of “judgment”.
num: 11
paragraphs: (1) This Act may be cited as the Choice of Court (Hague Convention) Act 2015.
(2) The Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Acts 1961 to 2014 and sections 5 to 9 may be cited together as the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Acts 1961 to 2015 and shall be construed together as one.