Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to enable overseas workers who are victims of corporate harm in the UK to access the UK courts.

In cross-border cases, there are well established rules and procedures that determine whether a court in the UK has jurisdiction to determine a case.

This will include considering factors such as where the defendant in the case is based, or whether they can be served a claim in the UK. The court may also consider whether the alleged damage or loss was sustained within the UK or resulted from an act committed within the UK.

Subject to certain limited exceptions, Article 4.1 of the Recast Brussels Regulation confers a right on any claimant (regardless of their domicile) to sue a UK domiciled defendant in a UK court.

The Government has no plans to legislate to amend the current position in law.

From 11pm on 31^st December 2020 the UK will no longer be party to the Recast Brussels Regulation. Transitional provisions will apply in cases where proceedings have been instituted before that date (so that the Brussels rules will still apply in those cases).

For cases where the Brussels Regulation does not apply, and where proceedings are instituted after the end of the Transition Period, the domestic private international law rules – in a case like the one mentioned, those of England and Wales - will apply to determine where such cases will be heard. Each of the three jurisdictions in the UK have their own rules. Under the rules in England and Wales, the primary factor determining where a case may be heard relates to where the claimant needs to serve the claim against the defendant. If the defendant is present within England and Wales (even temporarily) such that service can take place, then the court in England and Wales is able to take jurisdiction (although the defendant may seek to dispute that). If service in England and Wales is not possible, the claimant will need to obtain permission from the court to serve proceedings overseas (subject to certain limited exceptions).

The UK has applied to rejoin the Lugano Convention 2007. This has similar jurisdiction rules to the Brussels recast Regulation. If the UK’s application is accepted, then broadly speaking, in any case where Lugano applied jurisdiction would once again primarily turn on the domicile of the defendant.