2019 års Haagkonvention om erkännande och verkställighet av utländska domar på privaträttens område: En undersökning av konventionen och dess betydelse för svensk rätt

Sammanfattning: The Hague Judgments Convention is predicted to enter into force in the EU on September 1st this year. Consequently, the Convention will be directly applicable in Sweden. The objective of the Convention is to improve access to effective remedies on a global level, and in turn reduce the risks and costs typically associated with cross-border dispute resolution. The hope is that the Convention will promote the circulation of judgments and facilitate cross-border trade and investment. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the Hague Judgments Convention and its implementation in Swedish law, in light of the existing regulation in Swedish law concerning the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in civil and commercial matters, as well as the objective of the Convention. The thesis is conducted using a legal dogmatic method. The explanation of the current regulations in the field shows that there are currently no international instruments outside the EU and EFTA that regulate the area covered by the Hague Judgments Convention, apart from the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements. The main principle in Swedish law is that a foreign judgment may only be recognized or enforced if it is prescribed by law. It can be discussed whether Sweden, in some cases, has an obligation under Article 6 of the ECHR to recognize or enforce a judgment even if it is not prescribed by law. In NJA 1973 p. 628, evidence can be found suggesting a possibility to make exceptions from the main principle regarding judgments preceded by prorogation agreements. However, due to two more recent judgments, the possibility to make exceptions should be considered limited, at least in cases where a judgment is not preceded by a prorogation agreement. The thesis concludes that the Convention is likely to improve the possibilities for recognition and enforcement of third-country judgments in Sweden, potentially also of Swedish judgments in third countries depending on the national legislation of these countries. However, Sweden’s restrictive national legislation may harm the reciprocity on which the Hague Judgments Convention is based. The structure of the Convention allows Swedish courts to base their jurisdiction on more generous direct grounds of jurisdiction according to Swedish legislation, while at the same time refusing recognition or enforcement of a foreign judgment rendered on the same ground through the application of the Convention’s less generous rules of indirect jurisdiction. Furthermore, in accordance with the case law of the ECtHR, Sweden may be obliged to examine the compatibility of foreign judgments with the ECHR before recognition or enforcement can take place, especially regarding judgments rendered by countries that are not themselves bound by the ECHR. If consequences of recognition or enforcement of a judgment would risk violating the ECHR, the judgment should be refused, either through the application of the public policy reservation in the Convention or of the ECHR. Due to Sweden’s obligations under the ECHR, the grounds for refusal in the Convention are possibly not as optional as prescribed in the Convention, but the predictability of the Convention can be questioned.