Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements 2005 enters into force in Bahrain
The Kingdom of Bahrain is the latest jurisdiction to ratify the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements 2005 ("Hague 2005"), with the treaty coming into force in the Kingdom on 1 July 2025.
The UK is already a party to Hague 2005, as are the EU, Ukraine, Switzerland, Singapore, Northern Macedonia, Moldova, Mexico, Albania and Montenegro. Although the US, China, Israel and Costa Rica have signed the treaty, they have not ratified it.
Bahrain is the first jurisdiction in the Middle East to ratify Hague 2005. It is also the first jurisdiction that is not a member of the Hague Conference on Private International Law to do so.
This development will be welcome news for investors and businesses operating in the region. Hague 2005 provides greater legal certainty for commercial parties about the effectiveness of their contractually agreed exclusive jurisdiction clauses where they are in favour of a 'Contracting State' court (e.g. the English court). It also provides reassurance that resulting judgments will be recognised and enforced in other Contracting States, subject to standard exceptions.
Under Hague 2005, if commercial parties specify that, for example, the English courts are to have exclusive jurisdiction to resolve disputes under a contract then, subject to limited exceptions, the Bahraini courts should recognise that choice and stay any proceedings brought before them in breach of contract. Further, if the English court issued a judgment in such a scenario, that judgment should be recognised and enforced by the Bahraini courts, subject to standard exceptions.
Overview of core provisions
Hague 2005 concerns exclusive jurisdiction clauses in favour of Contracting State courts in civil and commercial matters. An exclusive jurisdiction clause is one in which the parties to a contract specify that only one court, to the exclusion of others, has jurisdiction to determine disputes under their contract. Note that, under Article 2(2), there are important exclusions from the scope of Hague 2005, such as insolvency matters, anti-trust (competition) matters and certain property matters.
Under Hague 2005, a Contracting State court designated in a contract must hear in-scope proceedings brought before it (Article 5(2)). Further, if proceedings are brought by a party before a non-designated Contracting State court, that court must refuse to hear those proceedings, subject to limited exceptions (e.g. that the jurisdiction clause is 'null and void' under the law of the chosen court) (Article 6).
Judgments issued by designated Contracting State courts must be recognised and enforced by the courts in other Contracting States, without a review of the merits, subject to standard exceptions (Article 8). Standard exceptions to recognition include where a judgment is obtained by fraud (Article 9(d)) or is manifestly incompatible with the public policy of the enforcing state (Article 9(e)).
Comment
It is envisaged that Hague 2005 will play an increasingly significant role in international dispute resolution, providing greater certainty for commercial parties on jurisdiction and enforcement. Across the Middle East, there has been a trend towards greater certainty in jurisdiction and enforcement in commercial disputes, which are often international in nature. Middle East countries are all signatories to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. In the litigation space, courts in the region have recently recognised the enforceability of foreign court judgments under the reciprocity principle,1 or under standalone memoranda.2
Bahrain's ratification of Hague 2005 is a significant development in this regional trend. Indeed, it has been observed: "The hope is that the Convention will do for choice of court agreements what the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of 10 June 1958 has done for arbitration agreements".3
Moving forward, it will be interesting to see if commercial parties now seek to specify exclusive jurisdiction clauses (rather than asymmetric or non-exclusive jurisdiction clauses which are common in finance and capital markets contracts) to take advantage of Hague 2005.
Bahrain has also ratified the Hague Convention of 18 March 1970 on the Taking of Evidence Abroad which came into force in Bahrain on 1 July 2025. While of more limited significance to international trade than Hague 2005, this development should assist litigants to gather evidence in Bahrain for use in international disputes.
Mayer Brown's International Disputes teams in Dubai, London, Paris, Germany, Singapore, Brazil and throughout the United States are available for further clarifications, or tailored advice, regarding this topic.
For analysis of the entry into force in the UK of the Hague Convention 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters, please read: Hague 2019 in force in the UK – Good News for Commercial Parties | Insights | Mayer Brown.
1 English Court's Beacon for Mutual Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments Positively received by UAE MOJ | Insights | Mayer Brown
2 Such as those, for example, between the Commercial Courts, King's Bench Division, and the ADGM Courts and the DIFC Courts.
3 Explanatory Report on the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements 2005 by Hartley and Dogauchi.
