Commenting ahead of the Government’s Future Partnership Paper on civil judicial cooperation, Allie Renison, Head of EU and Trade Policy, said:

“The success of Brexit will depend on such seemingly technical details as cross-border judicial cooperation. Any business conducted across borders involves risks, and it’s one of the areas where companies value agreements between governments that give them certainty about the process if something goes wrong.

“The IoD has welcomed the push from government to ensure that the forthcoming paper not only addresses ongoing civil and commercial disputes for businesses operating across the EU, but also lays out principles for future judicial cooperation between both sides.

“While English law provisions in legal contracts often provide a solid foundation in the event of cross-border disputes, companies will need further reassurance that domestic courts and tribunals across the UK and EU will continue to enforce judgements and contracts in accordance with sound legal cooperation principles.

“While we expect there may be some overlap with negotiations on whatever dispute resolution mechanism may replace the European Court of Justice’s jurisdiction in the UK, we would hope that reciprocal respect for the rule of law allows for rapid progress towards agreement in this area – given that both sides have now issued proposals on this topic.”

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