A convention on civil jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments, signed at Brussels in 1968 by the members of the European Economic Community, and published in the Official Journal ((1982) OJ L388/1). The UK acceded to the Brussels Convention in 1978 and it became part of UK law under the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982. The Convention sets out a system for the allocation of jurisdiction and for the reciprocal enforcement of judgments between contracting states. It has largely been superseded by Council Regulation 44/2001 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (2001 Brussels Regulation) and then by Regulation (EU) 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (recast) (Recast Brussels Regulation), except in relation to matters concerning dependent territories of Brussels Convention countries.

The Brussels Convention applied to the UK during the UK-EU transition period (which ended at 11.00pm (UK time) on 31 December 2020). At the end of the transition period, the rights, powers, liabilities, obligations, restrictions, remedies and procedures derived from the Brussels Convention were converted into UK law as retained EU law under section 4 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

The Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/479) (as amended by the Civil, Criminal and Family Justice (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations (SI 2020/1493)) revoked the retained EU law version of the Brussels Convention, subject to transitional provisions which save its application by the UK, insofar as it has not been superseded by the Recast Brussels Regulation, to proceedings instituted before the end of the transition period.

(For further information on the implications of Brexit, see Practice note, Brexit: implications for civil justice and judicial co-operation.)

For further guidance, see: