Regulation 3 Amendment of the Contracts (Applicable Law) Act 1990

(1)

The Contracts (Applicable Law) Act 1990^f1 is amended as follows.

(2)

For section 1 (meaning of “the Conventions”)^f2 substitute—

“Meaning of “the Rome Convention”

1.

In this Act, a reference to the Rome Convention is a reference to the provisions contained in Schedule 1 (which is derived from the Convention on the law applicable to contractual obligations opened for signature in Rome on 19th June 1980).”.

(3)

In section 2 (Conventions to have force of law)^f3—

(a)

for the heading substitute “Application of the Rome Convention”;

(b)

for subsection (1) substitute—

“(1)
The Rome Convention applies to contracts made on or after 1st April 1991.”;

(c)

omit subsections (1A), (2) and (4);

(d)

in subsection (3), for the words from “Notwithstanding” to “Conventions” substitute “The Rome Convention”.

(4)

In section 3 (interpretation of Conventions)—

(a)

in the heading, for “Conventions” substitute “the Rome Convention”;

(b)

for subsection (1) substitute—

“(1)
Any question as to the meaning or effect of any provision of the Rome Convention is to be decided in accordance with section 6 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (interpretation of retained EU law).”;

(c)

omit subsection (2);

(d)

in subsection (3)(a)—

(i)

for “Rome Convention” substitute “Convention on the law applicable to contractual obligations”^f4; and

(ii)

for “that Convention” substitute “the Rome Convention”;

(e)

omit subsection (3)(b) and the “and” before it.

(5)

Omit section 4 (revision of Conventions).

(6)

In section 4A(2) (disapplication where the rules in the Rome I Regulation apply: England and Wales and Northern Ireland)^f5, for “conflicts falling within Article 22(2)” substitute “application”.

(7)

In section 4B(2) (disapplication where the rules in the Rome I Regulation apply: Scotland)^f6, for “conflicts falling within Article 22(2)” substitute “application”.

(8)

Omit section 8(2) and (3) (power to extend or modify the Act in relation to territories).

(9)

In Schedule 1 (the Rome Convention)—

(a)

in the words before Article 1 (statement as to the establishment of the Convention), omit the words from “The High Contracting Parties” to “Have agreed as follows:”;

(b)

in Article 1(3) (Convention to not apply to contracts of insurance covering risks in Member States)—

(i)

for “Member States” substitute “United Kingdom or any Member State”;

(ii)

omit the words from “In order” to the end;

(c)

in Article 2 (application of law of non-contracting states)—

(i)

for the heading substitute “Application of law of a country outside of the United Kingdom”;

(ii)

for “a Contracting State” substitute “the United Kingdom or a part of the United Kingdom”;

(d)

omit Article 7(1) (application of mandatory rules of the law of another country);

(e)

omit Article 10(1)(e) (applicable law shall govern the consequences of nullity of the contract);

(f)

omit Article 17 (no retrospective effect);

(g)

omit Article 19(2) (states with more than one legal system not bound to apply convention to internal disputes);

(h)

in Article 20 (precedence of Community law)—

(i)

in the heading, for “Community” substitute “retained EU”;

(ii)

for the words from “or will be contained” to the end substitute “contained in retained EU law”;

(i)

in Article 21 (relationship with other conventions), for “a Contracting State” substitute “the United Kingdom”;

(j)

omit from Article 22 to the end.

(10)

Omit Schedules 2 to 3B (the Luxembourg Convention, the Brussels Protocol, the Funchal Convention and the Accession Convention).

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: 1990 c. 36.
f2: Section 1 was amended by S.I. 1994/1900 and 2000/1825.
f3: Section 2 was amended by S.I. 2000/1825 and 2001/3649.
f4: OJ No C282, 31.10.80, p.1.
f5: Section 4A was inserted by S.I. 2009/3064.
f6: Section 4B was inserted by S.S.I. 2009/410.