“Rome I – Should the UK Opt in?”

The Ministry of Justice has issued a consultation paper addressing the issue of whether the UK should opt in to the Rome I Regulation on choice of law in contract.   BLB has been concerned about Rome 1 before.

The Rome I proposal will provide clarity over which law applies if a dispute arises over a contract made between people or businesses from different countries.  The idea is to allow cross border trade to continue with confidence.  Questions arise for the banking industry in relation to securitisation and assignments, among other things.  There will be – or should be - a great deal of debate on this from bankers.  For a couple of years now there has met at MinJ, and before that at the DTi, a stakeholder group of lawyers and eminent academics who have ironed out the worst problems of the drafting.  There are still enough practical problems that need to be addressed that, eg, ISDA has formed a working group to work out what to do about the proposals.

The Government thinks the UK should opt in to the Rome I Regulation.  In doing so, they think the UK should apply similar rules to contracts connected to two or more jurisdictions within the UK. 

The Government wants to test this conclusion by seeking the views of stakeholders.  The consultation paper seeks views on:

• Is it in the national interest for the Government to seek to opt in to the Regulation?
• Should the Rome I rules apply throughout the UK if the UK opts in to the Regulation?

Responses must be submitted to the HM Courts Service by 25 June 2008.