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BREXIT: HANDLING OF COMMERCIAL DISPUTES WITH THE UNITED KINGDOM AS OF JANUARY 1, 2021
Commercial Department Newsletter – December 2020
Brexit: handling of commercial disputes before and on January 1, 2021
Some points to remember when dealing with the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom officially left the Union on January 31, 2020 at midnight.
European Union (EU) law will cease to apply at the end of the transition period until December 31, 2020.
Brexit without an agreement will imply many changes.
In contracts concluded as of January 1, 2021 , care will have to be taken in drafting the applicable law and jurisdiction clauses to avoid any ambiguity, including on the notification of decisions, in particular with regard to the location of the assets of the parties to the contract.
CHOICE OF LAW APPLICABLE TO CONTRACT BETWEEN NATIONALS OF EU MEMBER STATES AND UK NATIONALS
Between EU Member States Regulation ( No 593 2008 Rome I governs the law applicable to contractual obligations in the EU Member States and the United Kingdom (in force in all EU Member States except
Denmark)
This choice of applicable law is free even if the designated law is not that of a Member State, and must be respected.
In the absence of a choice Rome I organizes a system with eight connecting factors depending on the nature of the contract to determine the law applicable to the contract.
Since Rome I is universal in nature, EU courts will continue to apply a contractual clause providing for the law that the parties have decided to apply.
During the transition period, the judgments of the ECJ will remain binding on the English courts.
As of January 1 2021 between EU Member States and the United Kingdom
The provisions of Rome I were incorporated into English national law on March 29 2019.
Rome I will therefore continue to apply it in the United Kingdom from 1 January 2021 European case law ( will not be enforceable against the English judge There will no longer be reciprocity.