Enforcement of arbitration awards: effect of EU law

The decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in London Steam-ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association Ltd v Kingdom of Spain (The Prestige) [2022] EUECJ C-700/20; [2022] Lloyd’s Rep Plus 95 is for general purposes of historical interest only, although it is likely to cost the insurance industry close to $1 billion in cases arising while the UK was still a member of the EU and thus a party to the EU’s rules on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments under the Brussels Regulation, European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001, as replaced by the Brussels Regulation Recast, European Parliament and Council Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012.

The CJEU has ruled that an enforcement order in respect of an arbitration award on an insurance dispute declaring that the insurers are not liable does not preclude the enforcement in England of a later EU judgment holding that the insurers are liable.