Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) (Isle of Man) Act 1968

c i e
AT 6 of 1968

JUDGMENTS (RECIPROCAL

ENFORCEMENT) (ISLE OF MAN) ACT 1968

Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) (Isle of Man) Act 1968 Index


c AT 6 of 1968 Page 3

c i e
JUDGMENTS (RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT) (ISLE

OF MAN) ACT 1968

Index Section Page

PART I – REGISTRATION OF JUDGMENTS GIVEN OUTSIDE THE

ISLE OF MAN 5

1 Power to extend Part I to countries giving reciprocal treatment ............................. 5
2 Application for, and effect of, registration of judgment ........................................... 6
3 Rules of court ................................................................................................................... 7
4 Cases in which registered judgments must, or may, be set aside ............................ 8
5 Powers of High Court on application to set aside registration .............................. 10
6 Judgments which can be registered not to be enforceable otherwise ................... 11
PART II – MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL 11

7 General effect of certain judgments ........................................................................... 11
8 Power to make judgments unenforceable in the Isle of Man if no
reciprocity ...................................................................................................................... 12
9 Provision for issue of copies of, and certificates in connection with, Isle of
Man judgments ............................................................................................................. 12
9A Arbitration awards ....................................................................................................... 12
10 Interpretation ................................................................................................................. 13
11 Citation and commencement ...................................................................................... 14
ENDNOTES 15

TABLE OF LEGISLATION HISTORY 15
TABLE OF RENUMBERED PROVISIONS 15
TABLE OF ENDNOTE REFERENCES 15

Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) (Isle of Man) Act 1968 Section 1


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c i e
JUDGMENTS (RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT) (ISLE

OF MAN) ACT 1968

Received Royal Assent: 22 March 1968
Passed: 21 May 1968
Commenced: 21 May 1968
AN ACT
to make provision for the enforcement in the Isle of Man of judgments
given in the superior courts of other countries (including the United Kingdom)
which afford reciprocal treatment to judgments given in the Isle of Man, for
facilitating the enforcement in such countries of judgments given in the Isle of
Man, and for purposes incidental thereto.
PART I – REGISTRATION OF JUDGMENTS GIVEN OUTSIDE

THE ISLE OF MAN

1 Power to extend Part I to countries giving reciprocal treatment

(1) The Council of Ministers may by order direct —
(a) that this Part of this Act shall extend to a country outside the Isle
of Man;
(b) that such courts of that country as are specified in the order shall
be recognised courts of that country for the purposes of this Part;
and
(c) that judgments of any such recognised court, or such judgments
of any class so specified, shall, if within subsection (2), be
judgments to which this Part applies.1

(2) Subject to subsection (2A), a judgment of a recognised court is within this
subsection if —
(a) it is either final and conclusive as between the judgment debtor
and the judgment creditor or requires the former to make an
interim payment to the latter; and
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(b) there is payable under it 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 force of the order which made that
court a recognised court.2

(2A) The following judgments of a recognised court are not within
subsection (2) —
(a) a judgment given by that court on appeal from a court which is
not a recognised court;
(b) a judgment or other instrument which is regarded for the
purposes of its enforcement as a judgment of that court but which
was given or made in another country;
(c) a judgment given by that court in proceedings founded on a
judgment of a court in another country and having as their object
the enforcement of that judgment.3

(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) Any order made under this section before its amendment by the Civil
Jurisdiction Act 2001 which deems any court of a country outside the Isle
of Man to be a superior court of that country for the purposes of this Part
shall have effect from the time of that amendment as if it provided for
that court to be a recognised court of that country for those purposes,
and for any final and conclusive judgment of that court, if within
subsection (2), to be a judgment to which this Part applies.4

2 Application for, and effect of, registration of judgment

[1933/2]
(1) A person, being a judgment creditor under a judgment to which this Part
of this Act 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.
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(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;
(c) the sum for which a judgment is registered shall carry interest;
and
(d) the High 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 High
Court and entered on the date of registration:
Provided that execution shall not issue on the judgment so long as, under
this Part of this Act 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) [Repealed]5

(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
High 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.
3 Rules of court

[1933/3]
(1) The Deemsters may make rules of court from time to time for the
following purposes —
(a) for making provisions with respect to the giving of security for
costs by persons applying for the registration of judgments;
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(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 judgment can be enforced by execution in the
country of the original court, or what interest is payable under a
judgment under the law of the original court, is to be determined;
(f) for prescribing any matter which under this Part of this Act is to
be prescribed.6

(2) Rules of court for the purposes of this Part of this Act shall be expressed
to have, and shall have, effect subject to any such provisions contained in
orders made under section one of this Act as are declared by the said
orders to be necessary for giving effect to agreements made between Her
Majesty 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 of this
Act.
(3) Rules of court under this section shall be laid before Tynwald as soon as
practicable after they are made, and if Tynwald at the sitting at which the
rules are laid or at the next following sitting resolves that they shall be
annulled, they shall cease to have effect.7

4 Cases in which registered judgments must, or may, be set aside

[1933/4]
(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 High Court is satisfied —
(i) that the judgment is not a judgment to which this Part of
this Act 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 original
court) receive notice of those proceedings in sufficient time
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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 Isle of Man; 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 High 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.
(1A) For the avoidance of doubt, for the purposes of subsection (1)(a)(v) of
this section it shall be contrary to public policy to enforce a judgment in
respect of any action that, had it commenced in the Isle of Man, would
have been within the scope of sections 1 to 3 of the Privileges of Tynwald
(Publications) Act 1973.8

(2) For the purposes of this section, the courts of the country of the original
court shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (3) of this section, be
deemed to have had jurisdiction —
(a) in the case of a judgment given in an action in personam —
(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 jurisdiction 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 proceedings,
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 proceedings were
instituted 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;
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(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 paragraph (b) of this
subsection, if the jurisdiction of the original court is recognised by
the law of the Isle of Man.
(3) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (2) of this section, the courts of
the country of the original court shall not be deemed to have had
jurisdiction —
(a) if the subject matter of the proceedings was immovable property
outside the country of the original court; or
(b) except in the cases mentioned in sub-paragraphs (i), (ii) and (iii) of
paragraph (a) and in paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of this
section, 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.
5 Powers of High Court on application to set aside registration

[1933/5]
(1) If, on an application to set aside the registration of a judgment, the
applicant satisfies the High Court either that an appeal is pending, or
that he is entitled and intends to appeal against the 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 subsection (1) of
this section, or solely for the reason that the judgment was not at the date
of the application for 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.
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(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 High Court shall, on the application
of the judgment creditor, order judgment to be registered for the balance
remaining payable at that date.
6 Judgments which can be registered not to be enforceable otherwise

[1933/6]
No proceedings for the recovery of a sum payable under a judgment to which
this Part of this Act applies, other than proceedings by way of registration of the
judgment shall be entertained by any court in the Isle of Man.
PART II – MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL

7 General effect of certain judgments

[1933/8]
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a judgment to which Part I of this
Act 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 the
Isle of Man 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 or counterclaim 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 and it is shown
(whether the judgment 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) of this
subsection.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be taken to prevent any court in the Isle of
Man recognising any judgment as conclusive of any matter of law or fact
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decided therein if that judgment would have been so recognised before
the commencement of this Act.
8 Power to make judgments unenforceable in the Isle of Man if no

reciprocity

[1933/9]
(1) If it appears to the Council of Ministers that the treatment in respect of
recognition and enforcement accorded by the courts of any country
outside the Isle of Man to judgments given in the High Court is
substantially less favourable than that accorded by the courts of the Isle
of Man to judgments of the courts of that country, the Council of
Ministers may by order apply this section to that country.9

(2) Except in so far as the Council of Ministers may by order under this
section otherwise direct, no proceedings shall be entertained in any court
in the Isle of Man 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.10

9 Provision for issue of copies of, and certificates in connection with, Isle

of Man judgments

(1) Rules of court under section 25 of the High Court Act 1991 may make
provision for enabling any judgment creditor wishing to secure the
enforcement in a country outside the Isle of Man to which Part I applies
of a judgment to which this subsection applies, to obtain, subject to any
conditions specified in the rules —
(a) a copy of the judgment; and
(b) a certificate giving particulars relating to the judgment and the
proceedings in which it was given.
(2) Subsection (1) applies to any 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.11

9A Arbitration awards

The provisions of this Act, except sections 1(4) and 6, shall apply as they apply
to a judgment, in relation to an award in proceedings on an arbitration which
has, in pursuance of the law in force in the place where it is made, become
enforceable in the same manner as a judgment given by a court in that place.12

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10 Interpretation

[1933/11]
(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the following
expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them,
that is to say —
“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
” includes territory;13

“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 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
” includes judgments given in any court
upon appeal against any judgment 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 made under section three of
this Act;
“registration
” means registration under Part I of this Act, and the expression
“register
” and “registered
” shall be construed accordingly.
(2) For the purposes of this Act —
(a) the expression ‘action in personam’ shall not be deemed to include
any proceedings in connection with any of the following matters,
that is to say, proceedings relating to the subsistence or
dissolution of a marriage or civil partnership, any ancillary
proceedings in relation to those matters, the administration of the
estates of deceased persons, bankruptcy, winding up of
companies, lunacy or guardianship of infants; and14

(b) a judgment given by Her Majesty in Council on any matter
originating in the courts of the Isle of Man shall not be deemed to
be a judgment given in a court of a country outside the Isle of
Man, and nothing in this Act shall affect the procedure applicable
to the enforcement by the High Court of any such judgment.
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11 Citation and commencement

(1) This Act may be cited as the Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) (Isle of
Man) Act, 1968.
(2) This Act shall come into operation when the Royal Assent thereto has
been by the Governor announced to Tynwald and a certificate thereof
has been signed by the Governor and the Speaker of the House of Keys.
Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) (Isle of Man) Act 1968 Endnotes


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ENDNOTES

Table of Legislation History

Legislation Year and No Commencement






Table of Renumbered Provisions

Original Current






Table of Endnote References

1
Subs (1) substituted by Civil Jurisdiction Act 2001 s 4(2). 2
Subs (2) substituted by Civil Jurisdiction Act 2001 s 4(2). 3
Subs (2A) inserted by Civil Jurisdiction Act 2001 s 4(2). 4
Subs (4) added by Civil Jurisdiction Act 2001 s 4(2). 5
Subs (3) repealed by Civil Jurisdiction Act 2001 s 5 with saving. 6
Subs (1) amended by Governor’s General Functions (Transfer) Act 1980 Sch 1. 7
Subs (3) substituted by Administration of JustIce Act 2008 s 30(1). 8
Subs (1A) inserted by Administration of Justice Act 2008 Sch 2. 9
Subs (1) amended by GC155/91 and by Civil Jurisdiction Act 2001 s 4(3). 10
Subs (2) amended by GC155/91. 11
S 9 substituted by Civil Jurisdiction Act 2001 s 4(4). 12
S 9A inserted by Civil Jurisdiction Act 2001 s 4(5). 13
Definition of ‘country’ inserted by Civil Jurisdiction Act 2001 s 4(6). 14
Para (a) amended by Civil Partnership Act 2011 Schs 14 and 15.