Switzerland first to approve UK's post-Brexit joining of disputes convention Out-Law News | 15 Mar 2021 | 3:26 pm | 3 min. read Switzerland has become the first country to formally give its consent to the UK re-joining an important international disputes convention in the wake of its withdrawal from the EU. The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland published a letter confirming that Switzerland had consented to the UK being invited to deposit its instrument of accession to the Lugano Convention on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters, which governs jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters between EU member states and Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, known as the 'Lugano states'.