JUDGMENTS (FOREIGN) (RECIPROCAL
ENFORCEMENT)
THE JUDGMENTS (FOREIGN) (RECIPROCAL.
ENFORCEMENT) ACT
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
1. Short title.
2. Interpretation.
PART I. Regisfrorion of Foreign Judgments
3. Power to extend Part I to foreign countries giving reciprocal
4. Application for, and effect of, registration of foreign judgment.
5. Rules of court.
6. Cases in which registered judgments must, or may be set aside.
7. Powers of registering court on appIication to set aside registra-
8. Foreign judgments which can be registered not to be enforceable
9. Powerto apply Part I to Commonwealth.
treatment.
tion.
otherwise.
II. Miscellaneous and General
10. General effe.ct of certain foreign judgments.
11. POwwer to make foreign judgments unenforceable in Jamaica if
12. Issue of certiEcates of judgments obtained in Jamaica
no reciprocity.
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JUDGMENTS (FOREIGN) (RECIPROCAL
ENFORCEMENn
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THE JUDGMENTS (FOREIGN) (RECIPROCAL cpp. IBA
ENFORCEMENT) ACT
[Ilrh June, 1936.1
1. This Act may be cited as the Judgments (Foreign) shorttitlc
(Reciprocal Enforcement) Act.
2.-(1) In this Act- Interpreta-
tioo.
“appeal” jncludes any proceedings 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 com-
pensation 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;
“judgment given in the Supreme Court of Jamaica” means
judgments given in the Supreme Court and includes
judgments given in any court on appeals against judg-
ments so given;
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.
Power to
exiend
Part I to
foreign
countries
sivi.w
reciprocal
treaatment.
JUDGMENTS (FOREIGN) (RECIPROCAL
ENFORCEMENT)
“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 con-
strued 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 guard-
ianship of infants.
PART I. Registration of Foreign Judgments
3 .41) The Governor-General in Council, if he is aatis-
fied 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 Supreme Court of
Jamaica, may by order direct-
(a) that this Part shall extend to that foreign country;
and
(6) 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.
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ENFORCEMENT)
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(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 th is 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 Governor-General in Council may by a sub-
sequent order vary or revoke any order previously made
under this section.
.
A-(l) A person, being a judgment creditor under a AFplicaIion
judgment to which this Part applies, may apply to the forsand
Supreme Court at any time within six years after the date
way of appeal against the judgment, after the date of
the last judgment given in those proceedings, to have the
judgment registered in the Supreme 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 :
e5ect of,
of the judgment, or, where there have been proceedings by of . foreign
iudpment.
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ENFORCEMENT)
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
(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 judg-
ment; and
(4 the sum for which a judgment is registered shall
carry interest; and
Cd 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 registra-
tion :
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 Jamaica, the judgment shall be registered as
if it were a judgment for such sum in the currency of
Jamaica 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.
to the setting aside of registration-
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JUDGMENTS (FOREIGN) (RECIPROCAL
ENFORCEMENT)
(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 judg-
ments 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 be-
comes due under the judgment up to the time of registra-
tion, 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.
5 4 1 ) The power to make rules of court shall, subject ~ulenof
couli. to the provisions of 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;
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8 JULWMENTS (FOREIGN) (RECIPROCAL
ENFORCEMENT)
(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 judg-
ment 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.
(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 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.
Casea in 6.-(1) On an application in that behalf duly made by
~ ~ $ u ~ - s ~ any party against whom a registered judgment may be
men& must. enforced, the registration of the judgment-
set aside. (a) shall be set aside if the registering court is
(i) that the judgment is not a judgment to which
this Part applies or was registered in con-
travention of the foregoing provisions of this
Act; or
or may be
satisfied- i
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JUDGMENTS (FOREIGN) (RECIPROCAL
ENFORCEMENT)
(ii) that the courts of the country of the original
court had no jurisdiction in the circum-
stances of the case; or
(iu) that the judgment debtor, being a defend-
ant 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 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 applica-
tion 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 the provisions
of subsection (3), be deemed to have had jurisdiction-
(a) in the case of a judgment given in an action in
persomm-
(i) if the judgment debtor, being a defendant in
the original court, submitted to the jurisdic-
tion of that court by voluntarily appearing
in the proceedings otherwise than for the
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10 JUDGMENTS (FOREIGN) (RECIPROCAL
ENFORCEMENT)
purpose of protecting, or obtaining the
release of property seized, or threatened
with seizure, in the proceedings or of con-
testing 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 commence-
ment of the proceedings agreed, in respect of
the subject matter of the proceedings, to sub-
mit 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;
(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 situated 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
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JUDGMENTS (FOREIGN) (RECIPROCAL
ENFORCEMENT)
(a) or paragraph (b), if the jurisdiction of the
original court is recognized by the law of the
registering court.
(3) Notwithstanding anything In subsection (2), the
courts of the country of the original court shall not be
deemed to have had jurisdiction-
(U) if the subject matter of the proceedings was
immovable property outside the country of the
original court; or
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except in the cases mentioned in sub-paragraphs
(i), (ii) and (iii) of paragraph (a) and in paragraph
(c) of subsection (21, if the bringing of the pro-
ceedings 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 entiffed 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.
7.41) If, on an application to set aside the registration powcraof
registering
of a judgment, the applicant satisfies the registering court muri on
either that an appeal is pending, or that he is entitled and
intends to appeal, against the judgment, the court., if it registration.
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.
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Foreign
judgments
which can be
registered
not to be
enforceable
otherwiac.
Power to
apply Part I
to Common-
wexlth.
JUDGMENTS (FOREIGN) (RECIPROCAL
ENFORCEMENQ
(2) Where the registration of a judgment is set aside
under the last foregoing subsection 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 judg-
ment 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 pay-
able thereunder, the registering court shall, on the applica-
tion 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 Supreme Court.
9.-(1) The Governor-General in Council may by order
direct that this Part shall apply to the Commonwealth and to
judgments obtained in the courts of the Commonwealth as it
applies to foreign countries, and judgments obtained in the
courts of foreign countries, and in the event of the Governor-
General in Council so directing this Act shall have effect
accordingly and the Judgments and Awards (Reciprocal
Enforcement) Act shall cease to have effect in relation to
those parts of the said Commonwealth to which it extends
at the date of the order.
(2) If at any time after the Governor-General in
Council has directed as aforesaid a n order is made under
section 3 extending Part I to any part of the Commonwealth
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JUDGMENTS (FOREIGN) (RECIPROCAL
ENFORCEMENT)
to which the Judgments and Awards (Reciprocal Enforcc-
ment) Act extends as aforesaid, the said last-mentioned Act
shall cease to have effect in relation to that part of the
Commonwealth except as regards judgments obtained
before the coming into operation of the order.
PART 11. Miscellaneous and General
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lO.-(L) Subject to the provisions of this section, a judg- General
eITcft of ment to which Part I applies or would have applied if a erfaill
sum of money had been payable thereunder, whether it can $?gnu.
be registered or not, and whether, if it can be registered it
is registered or not shall be recognized in the Supreme
Court 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 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 wholIy or partly
satisfied; or
(5) that at the date of the application the judg-
ment 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).
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14 IUDGMENTS (FOREIGN) (RECIPROCAL
ENFORCEMENT)
(3) Nothing in this section shall be taken to prevent
the Supreme Court recognizing any judgment as conclusive
of any matter of law or fact decided therein if that judgment
would have been so recognized before the passing of this
Act.
Power to
make foreign
judgments
unenforce-
1 1 . 4 1 ) If it appears to the Governor-General in Coun-
cil that the treatment in respect of recognition and enforce-
ment accorded by the courts of any foreign country to
lamaimif U0 judgments given in the Supreme Court is substantially less
refiprociw. favourable than that accorded by the Supreme Court
to judgments of the superior courts of that country, the
Governor-General in Council may by order apply this
section to that country.
(2) Except in so far as the Governor-General in
Council may by order under this section otherwise direct,
no proceedings shall be entertained in the Supreme 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.
(3) The Governor-General in Council may by a
subsequent order vary or revoke any order previously made
under this section.
Issue of 12. Where a judgment under which a sum of money is
rxrtificates
ofjudgments payable, not being a sum payable in respect of taxes or
Jamaica. Obhinedin other charges of a like nature or in respect of a fine or
other penalty, has been entered in the Supreme Court
against any person and the judgment creditor is desirous of
enforcing the judgment in a country or temtory 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,
issue to the judgment creditor a certified copy of the judg-
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JUDGMENTS (FOREIGN) (RECIPROCAL
ENFORCEMENTI
ment 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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