Vol 16 (2019) - Issue 2

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UNCITRAL Cross-Border Insolvency Model Laws: And Then There Were Two

Synopsis

Twenty-one years after UNCITRAL introduced the first Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (the 'First Model Law'), it has launched a second. This one is on the Recognition and Enforcement of InsolvencyRelated Judgments (the 'Second Model Law'). It is intended to plug the judgment recognition gap in crossborder insolvency law highlighted by the UK Supreme Court’s decision in Rubin v Eurofinance, and also go some way towards overcoming the problem sometimes caused by the UK Court of Appeal’s decision in Antony Gibbs & Sons v La Société Industrielle et Commerciale des Métaux (otherwise known as the 'rule in Gibbs'). This article takes a look at both Model Laws and examines the case for whether the UK should enact the Second Model Law. Drawing on the global experience of the First Model Law and its limitations, it is also possible to make some predictions as to how the Second Model Law might fare.