The simple answer to this is yes, but it will depend on the country and the court the original judgment was made in.
There are three basic ways it can be done:
- Foreign Judgments Act 1991
- Trans-Tasman Proceedings Act 2010
- Common Law
The judgment must be less than six years old.
Foreign Judgments Act 1991
This only applies to countries that listed in the Foreign Judgments Regulations 1992.
It provides a system where a party can register and enforce a judgment and generally only applies to monetary judgments from the Superior Courts of the listed countries.
Any judgment must be final and conclusive, and it does not include relief that is non-monetary, fines, penalties and taxes.
The process requires the judgment to be filed in the Supreme Court of the State or Territory where it is to be executed.
It is done by an originating application along with an affidavit, and, where required, a certified translation.
The Commonwealth Attorney General overseas the framework but the government does not serve the debtor, that is attended to by commercial process servers including the local legal representatives.
Trans-Tasman Proceedings Act 2010
This relates to judgment from New Zealand and applies to judgments relating to tax, interest and civil pecuniary penalties, as well as specified non-monetary orders.
The process requires the filing of application to register judgment form attaching a sealed and certified copy of the New Zealand judgment in the appropriate State or Territory Supreme Court or the Federal Court.
The debtor is then served personally or in accordance with the relevant rules.
The judgment is then basically dealt with as if it was an Australian judgment.
Common Law
At common law a foreign judgment against a person will only be recognised if it is final and conclusive.
The judgment must relate to a specific sum of money, and you cannot enforce non-monetary, penal, punitive, revenue and tax debts.
The process is commenced by filing an originating application supported by affidavit, annexing an authenticated copy of the foreign judgment and, where required, a certified translation.
Jurisdiction of the foreign court
This is managed through the statutory Foreign Judgments Act 1991 or common law principles.
An Australian court evaluates whether the overseas court was competent under Australian conflict-of-laws rules
Australian courts insist that the foreign court which made the judgment must have exercised that international jurisdiction in a sense recognised by Australian law.
Generally, the presence of the debtor in the jurisdiction will suffice, but courts will not just consider residency they will look at citizenship, voting rights and other substantial connections.
Defences to the registration of a foreign judgment.
There are defences to this regime, and it requires expert legal advice.
Section 7 of the Foreign Judgments Act 1991, a debtor can apply to set aside a registered judgment based on:
- Jurisdiction of the foreign court
- Lack of Notice
- Fraud
- Reversal or satisfaction of the judgment
- Public Policy
- Wrong Amount
- Ineligible Judgment
At common law the defences include:
- Lack of Natural Justice
- Public Policy
- Penal or Revenue Laws
How can FC Lawyers help?
Our team has assisted overseas clients including legal advisers on the regime to register foreign judgments and with the subsequent enforcement together with advising Australian parties on the legality and appropriate defences to reject a foreign judgment.
Contact our team to see how we can assist you today.
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