Recovering a debt from an Italian debtor after Brexit

In short: since 1 January 2021 a UK creditor cannot rely on the Brussels Ia Regulation for new cases. The route depends on the contract: an exclusive choice of court agreement made from 1 October 2015 may fall under the 2005 Hague Convention; otherwise recognition in Italy turns on art. 64 of Law 218/1995. Check the debtor's structure before you spend money on proceedings.

Part of the guide Checking an Italian company: a guide for UK businesses after Brexit. All guides: Guides.

What changed

• GOV.UK: SI 2019/479 "revoked the Brussels Ia Regulation and its predecessors as they applied in the UK" at 11pm on 31 December 2020; transitional cases keep the old rules under the Withdrawal Agreement. This guidance covers courts of England and Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate guidance (GOV.UK: cross-border civil and commercial legal cases, guidance for legal professionals).
• GOV.UK: the 2005 Hague Convention applies where an exclusive choice of court agreement made from 1 October 2015 chooses a court in a contracting state, which includes all EU member states (GOV.UK: cross-border civil and commercial legal cases, guidance for legal professionals).
• Lugano 2007: the same GOV.UK guidance records that the UK applied on 8 April 2020 to accede as an independent contracting state. In its Communication COM(2021) 222 of 4 May 2021 the European Commission concluded that the EU should not give its consent to that accession (EUR-Lex: Commission Communication COM(2021) 222 on the UK application to accede to the 2007 Lugano Convention). Do not assume Lugano rules apply to your case.
• HCCH: the Convention covers "exclusive choice of court agreements concluded in civil or commercial matters"; art. 8 provides that a judgment from the chosen court must be recognised and enforced, with refusal only on the Convention's grounds (HCCH: full text of the 2005 Choice of Court Convention). Entry into force: 1 October 2015 for the EU and the UK (HCCH: status table of the 2005 Choice of Court Convention).

Recognition in Italy

Art. 64 of Law 218/1995 lists when a foreign judgment is recognised: the foreign court could have heard the case under Italian jurisdiction principles; the defendant was properly served and defence rights were respected; the parties appeared or default was declared in accordance with the foreign law; the judgment is final; it does not conflict with a final Italian judgment; no earlier Italian proceedings on the same matter are pending; and its effects are not contrary to public policy (Normattiva: Legge 218/1995, art. 64 (recognition of foreign judgments)). Whether a given clause qualifies under the Hague Convention, and how enforcement then proceeds, is for an Italian lawyer to confirm.

Before you spend on proceedings

Checks on the debtor, and the Veryfy product that covers them

Question	Product
Is the debtor already in difficulty? Protests, insolvency proceedings	Negatività e procedure concorsuali, €5.90
Who controls the company and which other companies are linked?	Decisione, €49 (includes properties registered to the company, links with other companies, restated financial statements)
A deeper file for a large claim	Istruttoria, €99

These reports show facts from Italian official sources; they do not say whether a particular asset can be enforced against.

Every company product comes with a free Check anti-truffa (anti-scam check): it looks at the VAT number in the EU VIES register, free webmail or disposable email, domain age, domains flagged for malware or phishing, SPF and DMARC protection, the VAT number shown on the website, data breaches affecting the site, and whether the IBAN is correctly written and from a country consistent with the company.

The service and the report are in Italian, and they come from Italian official sources: company names, offices and procedures keep their original Italian wording. Veryfy does not offer a translated report.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Brussels Ia Regulation still apply to my case?

Only to transitional cases. GOV.UK says SI 2019/479 revoked the Regulation as it applied in the UK from 11pm on 31 December 2020, while the Withdrawal Agreement keeps the old rules for proceedings begun earlier.

What is the Hague 2005 Convention?

The Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements applies to exclusive choice of court agreements in civil or commercial matters. Per GOV.UK it applies where such an agreement was made from 1 October 2015 and chooses a court in a contracting state, including EU member states.

Will an Italian court automatically recognise a UK judgment?

Not automatically. Art. 64 of Law 218/1995 sets seven conditions, and the Hague Convention applies if the clause qualifies. An Italian lawyer should assess your judgment against these conditions.

Sources

Official sources opened and read on 2026-10-24.

• GOV.UK: cross-border civil and commercial legal cases, guidance for legal professionals
• HCCH: status table of the 2005 Choice of Court Convention
• HCCH: full text of the 2005 Choice of Court Convention
• Normattiva: Legge 218/1995, art. 64 (recognition of foreign judgments)
• EUR-Lex: Commission Communication COM(2021) 222 on the UK application to accede to the 2007 Lugano Convention

General information, not legal advice. Sources verified on 2026-10-24.