ABSTRACT
THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES TO THIS CONVENTION, DETERMINED to strengthen in their territories the legal protection of persons therein established, CONSIDERING that it is necessary for this purpose to determine the international jurisdiction of the
courts, to facilitate recognition, and to introduce an expeditious procedure for securing the enforcement of judgments, authentic instruments and court settlements,
AWARE of the links between them, which have been sanctioned in the economic field by the free trade agreements concluded between the European Community and certain States members of the European Free Trade Association,
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT: — the Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968 on jurisdiction and the enforcement of
judgments in civil and commercial matters, as amended by the Accession Conventions under the successive enlargements of the European Union,
— the Lugano Convention of 16 September 1988 on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, which extends the application of the rules of the 1968 Brussels Convention to certain States members of the European Free Trade Association,
— Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, which has replaced the abovementioned Brussels Convention,
— the Agreement between the European Community and the Kingdom of Denmark on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, signed at Brussels on 19 October 2005,
PERSUADED that the extension of the principles laid down in Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 to the Contracting Parties to this instrument will strengthen legal and economic cooperation,
DESIRING to ensure as uniform an interpretation as possible of this instrument, HAVE in this spirit DECIDED to conclude this Convention, and HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1 1. This Convention shall apply in civil and commercial matters whatever the nature of the court or
tribunal. It shall not extend, in particular, to revenue, customs or administrative matters. 2. The Convention shall not apply to:
(a) the status or legal capacity of natural persons, rights in property arising out of a matrimonial relationship, wills and succession;
(b) bankruptcy, proceedings relating to the winding-up of insolvent companies or other legal persons, judicial arrangements, compositions and analogous proceedings;
(c) social security; (d) arbitration.
