L.R.O. 1/2012
LAWS OF GUYANA
FOREIGN JUDGMENTS (RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT) ACT
CHAPTER 7:04
Act
19 of 1961
Amended by
9 of 1963





1 – 19 ... 1/2012
(inclusive) by L.R.O.
Pages Authorised
Current Authorised Pages
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Note
on
Subsidiary Legislation
This Chapter contains no subsidiary legislation.


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CHAPTER 7:04
FOREIGN JUDGMENTS (RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT) ACT
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
SECTION
1. Short title.
2. Interpretation.
PART I
REGISTRATION OF FOREIGN JUDGMENTS
3. Power to extend Part I to foreign countries giving reciprocal treatment.
4. Application for and effect of, registration of foreign judgment.
5. Rules of court.
6. Cases in which registered judgments shall, or may, be set aside.
7. Powers of registering court on application to set aside registration.
8. Foreign judgments which can be registered not to be enforceable
otherwise.
9. Power to apply Part I to other parts of Commonwealth.
PART II
MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL
10. General effect of certain foreign judgments.
11. Power to make foreign judgments unenforceable in Guyana if no
reciprocity.
12. Issue of certificates of judgments obtained in Guyana.
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CHAPTER 7:04
FOREIGN JUDGMENTS (RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT) ACT
19 of 1961 An Act to make provision for the enforcement in Guyana of
judgments given in foreign countries which accord
reciprocal treatment to judgments given in Guyana, for
facilitating the enforcement in foreign countries of
judgments given in Guyana, and for purposes
connected therewith.
[1ST JULY, 1961]
Short title.
Interpretation.
[9 of 1963]
1. This Act may be cited as the Foreign Judgments
(Reciprocal Enforcement) Act.
2. (1) In this Act—
“appeal” includes any proceeding by way of discharging or
setting aside a judgment or an application for a new trial
or a stay of execution;
“country of the original court” means the country in which
the original court is situated;
“judgment” means a judgment or order given or made by a
court in any civil proceedings, or a judgment or order
given or made by a court in any criminal proceedings for
the payment of a sum of money in respect of
compensation or damages to an injured party;
“judgment creditor” means the person in whose favour the
judgment was given and includes any person in whom
the rights under the judgment have become vested by
succession or assignment or otherwise;
“judgment debtor” means the person against whom the
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Power to
extend Part I to
foreign
countries
giving
reciprocal
treatment.
[9 of 1963]
judgment was given, and includes any person against
whom the judgment is enforceable under the law of the
original court;
“judgments given in the High Court” means judgments given
in the High Court of Guyana, and includes judgments
given in any courts on appeals against any judgments so
given;
“original court” in relation to any judgment means the court
by which the judgment was given;
“prescribed” means prescribed by rules of court;
“registration” means registration under Part I, and the
expressions “register” and “registered” shall be
construed accordingly;
“registering court” in relation to any judgment means the
court to which an application to register the judgment is
made.
(2) For the purposes of this Act, the expression
“action in personam” shall not be deemed to include any
matrimonial cause or any proceedings in connection with any
of the following matters, that is to say, matrimonial matters,
administration of the estates of deceased persons, bankruptcy,
winding up of companies, lunacy, or guardianship of infants.
PART I
REGISTRATION OF FOREIGN JUDGMENTS

3. (1) The Minister, if he is satisfied that, in the event
of the benefits conferred by this Part being extended to
judgments given in the superior courts of any foreign
country, substantial reciprocity of treatment will be assured
as respects the enforcement in that foreign country of
judgments given in the High Court, may by order direct—
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(a) that this Part shall extend to that
foreign country; and
(b) that such courts of that foreign
country as are specified in the order
shall be deemed superior courts of
that country for the purposes of this
Part.
(2) Any judgment of a superior court of a foreign
country to which this Part extends, other than a judgment of
such a court given on appeal from a court which is not a
superior court, shall be a judgment to which this Part applies,
if—
(a) it is final and conclusive as between
the parties thereto; and
(b) there is payable thereunder a sum of
money, not being a sum payable in
respect of taxes or other charges of a
like nature or in respect of a fine or
other penalty; and
(c) it is given after the coming into
operation of the order directing that
this Part shall extend to that foreign
country.
(3) For the purposes of this section, a judgment
shall be deemed to be final and conclusive notwithstanding
that an appeal may be pending against it, or that it may still
be subject to appeal, in the courts of the country of the
original court.
(4) The Minister may by a subsequent order vary
or revoke any order previously made under this section.

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Application for
and effect of
registration of
foreign
judgment.
4. (1) A person, being a judgment creditor under a
judgment to which this Part applies, may apply to the High
Court at any time within six years after the date of the
judgment, or, where there have been proceedings by way of
appeal against the judgment, after the date of the last
judgment given in those proceedings, to have the judgment
registered in the High Court, and on any such application the
Court shall, subject to proof of the prescribed matters and to
the other provisions of this Act, order the judgment to be
registered:
Provided that a judgment shall not be registered if at the
date of the application—
(a) it has been wholly satisfied; or
(b) it could not be enforced by execution
in the country of the original court.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act with
respect to the setting aside of registration—
(a) a registered judgment shall, for the
purposes of execution, be of the same
force and effect; and
(b) proceedings may be taken on a
registered judgment; and
(c) the sum for which a judgment is
registered shall carry interest;
(d) the registering court shall have the
same control over the execution of a
registered judgment,
as if the judgment had been a judgment originally given in
the registering court and entered on the date of registration:
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Provided that execution shall not issue on the judgment
so long as, under this Part and the rules of court made
thereunder, it is competent for any party to make an
application to have the registration of the judgment set aside,
or, where such an application is made, until after the
application has been finally determined.
(3) Where the sum payable under a judgment
which is to be registered is expressed in a currency other than
the currency of Guyana, the judgment shall be registered as if
it were a judgment for such sum in the currency of Guyana as,
on the basis of the rate of exchange prevailing at the date of
the judgment of the original court, is equivalent to the sum so
payable.
(4) If at the date of the application for registration
the judgment of the original court has been partly satisfied,
the judgment shall not be registered in respect of the whole
sum payable under the judgment of the original court, but
only in respect of the balance remaining payable at that date.
(5) If, on an application for the registration of a
judgment, it appears to the registering court that the
judgment is in respect of different matters and that some, but
not all, of the provisions of the judgment are such that if those
provisions had been contained in separate judgments those
judgments could properly have been registered, the judgment
may be registered in respect of the provisions aforesaid but
not in respect of any other provisions contained therein.
(6) In addition to the sum of money payable under
the judgment of the original court, including any interest
which by the law of the country of the original court becomes
due under the judgment up to the time of registration, the
judgment shall be registered for the reasonable costs of and
incidental to registration, including the costs of obtaining a
certified copy of the judgment from the original court.
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Rules of court.
c. 3:02
5. (1) The power to make rules of court under section
59 of the High Court Act shall, subject to this section, include
power to make rules for the following purposes—
(a) for making provision with respect to
the giving of security for costs by
persons applying for the registration
of judgments;
(b) for prescribing the matters to be
proved on an application for the
registration of a judgment and for
regulating the mode of proving those
matters;
(c) for providing for the service on the
judgment debtor of notice of the
registration of a judgment;
(d) for making provision with respect to
the fixing of the period within which
an application may be made to have
the registration of the judgment set
aside and with respect to the
extension of the period so fixed;
(e) for prescribing the method by which
any question arising under this Act
whether a foreign judgment can be
enforced by execution in the country
of the original court, or what interest
is payable under a foreign judgment
under the law of the original court, is
to be determined;
(f) for prescribing any matter which
under this Part is to be prescribed.

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Cases in which
registered
judgments shall,
or may, be set
aside.
(2) Rules made for the purposes of this Part shall
be expressed to have, and shall have, effect subject to any
such provisions contained in orders made under section 3 as
are declared by the said orders to be necessary for giving
effect to agreements made between the State and foreign
countries in relation to matters with respect to which there is
power to make rules of court for the purposes of this Part.
6. (1) On an application in that behalf duly made by
any party against whom a registered judgment may be
enforced, the registration of the judgment—
(a) shall be set aside if the registering
court is satisfied—
(i) that the judgment is not a
judgment to which this
Part applies or was
registered in
contravention of the
foregoing provisions of
this Act; or
(ii) that the courts of the
country of the original
court had no jurisdiction
in the circumstances of
the case; or
(iii) that the judgment debtor,
being the defendant in
the proceedings in the
original court, did not
(notwithstanding that
process may have been
duly served on him in
accordance with the law
of the country of the
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original court) receive
notice of those
proceedings in sufficient
time to enable him to
defend the proceedings
and did not appear; or
(iv) that the judgment was
obtained by fraud; or
(v) that the enforcement of
the judgment would be
contrary to public policy
in the country of the
registering court; or
(vi) that the rights under the
judgment are not vested
in the person by whom
the application for
registration was made;
(b) may be set aside if the registering
court is satisfied that the matter in
dispute in the proceedings in the
original court had previously to the
date of the judgment in the original
court been the subject of a final and
conclusive judgment by a court
having jurisdiction in the matter.
(2) For the purposes of this section the courts of the
country of the original court shall, subject to subsection (3), be
deemed to have had jurisdiction—

(a) in the case of a judgment given in an
action in personam—

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(i) if the judgment debtor,
being a defendant in the
original court, submitted
to the jurisdiction of that
court by voluntarily
appearing in the
proceedings otherwise
than for the purpose of
protecting, or obtaining
the release of, property
seized, or threatened
with seizure, in the
proceedings or of
contesting the juris-
diction of that court; or
(ii) if the judgment debtor
was plaintiff in, or
counter-claimed in, the
proceedings in the
original court; or
(iii) if the judgment debtor,
being a defendant in the
original court, had before
the commencement of
the proceedings agreed,
in respect of the subject
matter of the proceed-
ings, to submit to the
jurisdiction of that court
or of the courts of the
country of that court; or
(iv) if the judgment debtor,
being a defendant in the
original court, was at the
time when the
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proceedings were institu-
ted resident in, or being a
body corporate had its
principal place of
business in, the country
of that court; or
(v) if the judgment debtor,
being a defendant in the
original court, had an
office or place of
business in the country
of that court and the
proceedings in that court
were in respect of a
transaction effected
through or at that office
or place;
(b) in the case of a judgment given in an
action of which the subject matter was
immovable property or in an action in
rem of which the subject matter was
movable property, if the property in
question was at the time of the
proceedings in the original court
situate in the country of that court;
(c) in the case of a judgment given in an
action other than any such action as is
mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b), if
the jurisdiction of the original court is
recognised by the law of the
registering court.

(3) Notwithstanding anything in the last preceding
subsection, the courts of the country of the original court shall
not be deemed to have had jurisdiction—
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Powers of
registering
court on
application to
set aside
registration.
(a) if the subject matter of the
proceedings was immovable property
outside the country of the original
court; or
(b) except in cases mentioned in
subsection (2)(a)(i), (ii) and (iii) and
(c), if the bringing of the proceedings
in the original court was contrary to
an agreement under which the
dispute in question was to be settled
otherwise than by proceedings in the
courts of the country of that court; or
(c) if the judgment debtor, being a
defendant in the original proceedings,
was a person who under the rules of
public international law was entitled
to immunity from the jurisdiction of
the courts of the country of the
original court and did not submit to
the jurisdiction of that court.
7. (1) If, on an application to set aside the registration
of a judgment, the applicant satisfies the registering court
either that an appeal is pending, or that he is entitled and
intends to appeal, against a judgment, the court, if it thinks fit,
may, on such terms as it may think just, either set aside the
registration or adjourn the application to set aside the
registration until after the expiration of such period as
appears to the court to be reasonably sufficient to enable the
applicant to take the necessary steps to have the appeal
disposed of by the competent tribunal.
(2) Where the registration of a judgment is set
aside under the preceding subsection, or solely for the reason
that the judgment was not at the date of the application for
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Foreign
judgments
which can be
registered not
to be
enforceable
otherwise.
Power to
apply Part I
to other parts
of Common-
wealth.
[9 of 1963]
registration enforceable by execution in the country of the
original court, the setting aside of the registration shall not
prejudice a further application to register the judgment when
the appeal has been disposed of or if and when the judgment
becomes enforceable by execution in that country, as the case
may be.
(3) Where the registration of a judgment is set
aside solely for the reason that the judgment, notwithstanding
that it had at the date of the application for registration been
partly satisfied, was registered for the whole sum payable
thereunder, the registering court shall, on the application of
the judgment creditor, order judgment to be registered for the
balance remaining payable at that date.
8. No proceedings for the recovery of a sum payable
under a foreign judgment, being a judgment to which this
Part applies, other than proceedings by way of registration of
the judgment, shall be entertained by the High Court.

9. (1) The Minister may by order direct that this Part
shall apply to any part of the Commonwealth outside Guyana
and to judgments obtained in the superior courts of such
parts of the Commonwealth as it applies to foreign countries
and judgments obtained in the superior courts of foreign
countries and, in the event of the Minister so directing, this
Act shall have effect accordingly and the Judgments
Extension Ordinance shall cease to have effect except in
relation to those parts of the Commonwealth to which it
extends at the date of the order.

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(2) If at any time after the Minister has directed as
aforesaid an order is made under section 3 extending Part I to
any part of the Commonwealth to which the Judgments
Extension Ordinance extends as aforesaid, then, in relation to
that part of the Commonwealth—
(a) the last mentioned Ordinance shall
cease to have effect;
(b) Part I shall have effect as if—
“judgment” included an
award in proceedings on
an arbitration if the
award has, in pursuance
of the law in force in the
place where it was made,
become enforceable in
the same manner as a
judgment given by a
court in that place;
(ii) the fact that a judgment
was given before the
coming into operation of
the order did not prevent
it from being a judgment
to which Part I applies,
but the time limited for
the registration of a
judgment were, in the
case of a judgment so
 The Judgments Extension Ordinance (1953 Ed. cap. 27) though still in force has not been published in this Edition as it is proposed to apply Part I of this Act to the
Commonwealth territories to which that Ordinance now extends.
expression (i) the
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General effect
of certain
foreign
judgments.
given, twelve months
from the date of the
judgment or such longer
period as may be
allowed by the High
Court;
(iii) a judgment registered in
the High Court under the
Judgments Extension
Ordinance before the
coming into operation of
the order had been
registered under Part I,
and anything done in
relation thereto under
the said Judgments
Extension Ordinance or
any rules of court or
other provisions
applicable to the said
Judgments Extension
Ordinance, had been
done under Part I or the
corresponding rules of
court or other provisions
applicable to Part I.
PART II
MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL
10. (1) Subject to this section, a judgment to which
Part I applies or would have applied if a sum of money had
been payable thereunder, whether it can be registered or not,
and whether, if it can be registered, it is registered or not,
shall be recognised in any court in Guyana as conclusive
between the parties thereto in all proceedings founded on the
same cause of action and may be relied on by way of defence
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or counter-claim in any such proceedings.
(2) This section shall not apply in the case of any
judgment—
(a) where the judgment has been
registered and the registration thereof
has been set aside on some ground
other than—
(i) that a sum of money was
not payable under the
judgment; or
(ii) that the judgment had
been wholly or partly
satisfied; or
(iii) that at the date of the
application the judgment
could not be enforced by
execution in the country
of the original court; or
(b) where the judgment has not been
registered, it is shown (whether it
could have been registered or not)
that if it had been registered the
registration thereof would have been
set aside on an application for that
purpose on some ground other than
one of the grounds specified in
paragraph (a).
(3) Nothing in this section shall be taken to prevent
the High Court recognizing any judgment as conclusive of
any matter of law or fact decided therein if that judgment
would have been so recognised before the passing of this Act.
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Power to make
foreign
judgments
unenforceable
in Guyana if no
reciprocity.
Issue of
certificates of
judgments
obtained in
Guyana.
c. 3:02
11. (l) If it appears to the Minister that the treatment
in respect of recognition and enforcement accorded by the
courts of any foreign country to judgments given in the High
Court is substantially less favourable than that accorded by
the High Court to judgments of the superior courts of that
country, the Minister may by order apply this section to that
country.
(2) Except in so far as the Minister may by order
under this section otherwise direct, no proceedings shall be
entertained in the High Court for the recovery of any sum
alleged to be payable under a judgment given in a court of a
country to which this section applies.
12. Where a judgment under which a sum of money
is payable, not being a sum payable in respect of taxes or
other charges of a like nature or in respect of a fine or other
penalty, has been entered in the High Court against any
person and the judgment creditor is desirous of enforcing the
judgment in a foreign country to which Part I applies, the
Court shall, on an application made by the judgment creditor
and on payment of such fee as may be fixed for the purposes
of this section by rules of court made under section 67 of the
High Court Act, issue to the judgment creditor a certified
copy of the judgment, together with a certificate containing
such particulars with respect to the action, including the
causes of action, and the rate of interest, if any, payable on the
sum payable under the judgment, as may be prescribed:
Provided that, where execution of a judgment is
stayed for any period pending an appeal or for any other
reason, an application shall not be made under this section
with respect to the judgment until the expiration of that
period.
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