CTC in Europe: assessment of ratifications to date and implications of Brexit on the ratification by the UK. Issue 1 (1st January 2016) - Gray, Kenneth
Abstract : Since the Cape Town Convention (CTC) first came into force in 2006, the rate of ratifications by European jurisdictions has dramatically accelerated. Seventeen jurisdictions forming part the European continent, including nine currently within the EU, are now Contracting States. Six of those have ratified within the past two years alone. In ratifying the CTC, the European Union (EU) has asserted competence in respect of those provisions regarding choice of law, jurisdiction and insolvency. That assertion, if correct, leaves the Member States unable to make declarations in respect of those matters. On 23 June 2016, a referendum in the UK on its continued membership of the EU resulted in a vote to leave. The departure of the UK from the EU raises the question of whether any further action is required by the UK in connection with its ratification, whether any new declarations will be required to be made by the UK and whether any new legislation will be required in the UK to ensure that the CTC remains in effect.