The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) Convention on Choice of Court Agreements, enforceable in Monaco (Sovereign Order No. 11.839 of 2 April 2026)

Sovereign Order No. 11.839 of 2 April 2026 (JDM No. 8795 of 17 April 2026) rendered the Convention of 30 June 2005 on Choice of Court Agreements of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) (hereinafter the “2005 Hague Convention”) enforceable in Monaco.

The Principality of Monaco’s accession to the 2005 Hague Convention reflects a desire to strengthen the legal certainty of international commercial transactions involving Monegasque businesses that make use of choice of court agreements: to promote the autonomy of the parties and to increase the predictability of judicial outcomes.

Here are the key points:

PURPOSE OF THE CONVENTION:

The 2005 Hague Convention aims to ensure:

• the effectiveness of exclusive choice of court agreements in favour of a State Party to the Convention, which are concluded in civil or commercial matters at international level, by ensuring the jurisdiction of the designated court; as well as
• the recognition and enforcement of judgments based on such agreements in the States Parties to the Convention.

In other words, the 2005 Hague Convention helps to promote international trade and investment through closer judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters.

SCOPE OF APPLICATION OF THE CONVENTION:

It applies in international situations, that is to say, where the parties to the agreement do not reside in the same State Party to the Convention and their relations and all other relevant elements of the dispute are not exclusively connected with that same State Party.

It applies only to choice of court agreements in favour of States Parties to the Convention, concluded or documented in writing, or by any other means of communication that makes the information accessible for future reference.

MATTERS EXCLUDED FROM THE SCOPE OF THE CONVENTION:

The 2005 Hague Convention does not apply to consumer contracts, employment contracts, or a number of matters falling primarily within the scope of:

• persons and family law (status and legal capacity of persons, maintenance obligations, matrimonial property regimes, succession);
• company law and insolvency proceedings (insolvency, compositions, the existence and operation of legal persons);
• transport and maritime law (carriage of passengers and goods, marine pollution, general average, towing and salvage);
• specific liability regimes (nuclear damage, personal injury and non-pecuniary damage, tortious liability for damage to tangible property);
• competition law;
• property law (real property rights and property leases);
• intellectual property law excluding copyright and related rights (infringement, except where a contractual dispute is involved).

Furthermore, the parties to the Convention may exclude certain other matters from its scope.

KEY OBLIGATIONS OF THE COURTS OF STATES PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION:

The 2005 Hague Convention sets out three key obligations, subject to limited exceptions (in exceptional circumstances, the appropriateness of giving effect to a choice of court agreement may be superseded by other considerations):

1. The designated court of a State Party to the Convention is obliged to hear the dispute once proceedings have been brought before it (predictability of the forum chosen by the parties), except where: the agreement is null and void under the law of the State of the designated court; one of the parties lacked the capacity to enter into the agreement under the law of the State of the court seised; the enforcement of the agreement is contrary to the public policy of the State of the non-chosen court; the agreement cannot be enforced; or the designated court decides not to hear the dispute.
2. Any non-designated court of a State Party to the Convention before which proceedings are brought must stay the proceedings or decline jurisdiction in favour of the designated court (to avoid parallel proceedings);Any non-chosen court before which proceedings are brought is required to stay proceedings or decline jurisdiction in favour of the chosen court (to avoid parallel proceedings);
3. The judgment rendered by the chosen court must be recognised and enforced in the other States Parties to the Convention (ensuring their global circulation). The effects of the 2005 Hague Convention are intended to be comparable to those of the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards with regard to arbitration agreements.

DECLARATIONS BY MONACO:

The Principality of Monaco has made two declarations (clarifying its position), according to which the Monegasque courts have the discretion to refuse:

• to hear disputes to which an exclusive choice of court agreement applies if there is no connection, other than the location of the chosen court, between Monaco and the parties or the dispute;
• to recognise or enforce a judgment rendered by a court of another Contracting State where the parties were domiciled in Monaco and the relations between the parties, as well as all other relevant elements of the dispute, other than the place of the chosen court, were connected solely to Monaco.

STATES PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION:

As of the date of this publication, 38 States are parties to the 2005 Hague Convention: Monaco (entry into force: 1 March 2026), Bahrain (1 July 2025), North Macedonia (1 March 2025), Switzerland (1 January 2025), Albania (1 October 2024), Republic of Moldova (1 July 2024), Ukraine (1 August 2023), Denmark (1 September 2018), Montenegro (1 August 2018), Singapore (1 October 2016), Germany (1 October 2015), Austria (1 October 2015), Belgium (1 October 2015), Bulgaria (1 October 2015), Cyprus (1 October 2015), Croatia (1 October 2015), Spain (1 October 2015), Estonia (1 October 2015), Finland (1 October 2015), France (1 October 2015), Greece (1 October 2015), Hungary (1 October 2015), Ireland (1 October 2015), Italy (1 October 2015), Latvia (1 October 2015), Lithuania (1 October 2015), Luxembourg (1 October 2015), Malta (1 October 2015), Mexico (1 October 2015), the Netherlands (1 October 2015), Poland (1 October 2015), Portugal (1 October 2015), Czech Republic (1 October 2015), Romania (1 October 2015), United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1 October 2015), Slovakia (1 October 2015), Slovenia (1 October 2015), Sweden (1 October 2015).

The European Union’s ratification has made the Convention binding on its Member States.

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