(1)In this Act—
"the 1968 Convention" means the Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (including the Protocol annexed to that Convention), signed at Brussels on 27th September 1968;
" the 1971 Protocol" means the Protocol on the interpretation of the 1968 Convention by the European Court, signed at Luxembourg on 3rd June 1971;
" the Accession Convention " means the Convention on the accession to the 1968 Convention and the 1971 Protocol of Denmark, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, signed at Luxembourg on 9th October 1978;
"the Conventions" means the 1968 Convention, the 1971 Protocol and the Accession Convention.
(2)In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
(a)references to, or to any provision of, the 1968 Convention or the 1971 Protocol are references to that Convention, Protocol or provision as amended by the Accession Convention; and
(b)any reference to a numbered Article is a reference to the Article so numbered of the 1968 Convention, and any reference to a sub-division of a numbered Article shall be construed accordingly.
(3)In this Act " Contracting State " means—
(a)one of the original parties to the 1968 Convention (Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands); or
(b)one of the parties acceding to that Convention under the Accession Convention (Denmark, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom),
being a state in respect of which the Accession Convention has entered into force in accordance with Article 39 of that Convention.
(1)The Conventions shall have the force of law in the United Kingdom, and judicial notice shall be taken of them.
(2)For convenience of reference there are set out in Schedules 1, 2 and 3 respectively the English texts of—
(a)the 1968 Convention as amended by Titles II and III of the Accession Convention;
(b)the 1971 Protocol as amended by Title IV of the Accession Convention ; and
(c)Titles V and VI of the Accession Convention (transitional and final provisions),
being texts prepared from the authentic English texts referred to in Articles 37 and 41 of the Accession Convention.
(1)Any question as to the meaning or effect of any provision of the Conventions shall, if not referred to the European Court in accordance with the 1971 Protocol, be determined in accordance with the principles laid down by and any relevant decision of the European Court.
(2)Judicial notice shall be taken of any decision of, or expression of opinion by, the European Court on any such question.
(3)Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the following reports (which are reproduced in the Official Journal of the Communities), namely—
(a)the [O.J. 1979 No. C59/1 and 66.] reports by Mr. P. Jenard on the 1968 Convention and the 1971 Protocol; and
(b)the [O.J. 1979 No. C59/71.] report by Professor Peter Schlosser on the Accession Convention,
may be considered in ascertaining the meaning or effect of any provision of the Conventions and shall be given such weight as is appropriate in the circumstances.