Civil Proceedings: China

(asked on 3rd March 2026) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the findings in the China Strategic Risks Institute report entitled The PRC’s Extraterritorial Legal Architecture, published in January 2026, regarding the risks of China's civil judgments being enforced in the UK against the public interest.


Answered by
Jake Richards Portrait
Jake Richards
Assistant Whip
This question was answered on 11th March 2026

Decisions about recognition of foreign judgments are made by the UK’s independent judiciary, with safeguards against recognition and enforcement being available.

There are various grounds on which a judge may refuse to recognise or enforce a foreign judgment, including for example where the foreign court acted without jurisdiction, the proceedings involved a breach of natural justice, or recognition would be contrary to public policy.

The Government engages regularly with the judiciary and stakeholders about the operation of frameworks for recognition and enforcement.

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