How to enforce a foreign judgment in the UK

For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the UK, it must first be recognised, and this usually takes place following an application under Section 2 of the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1993 (UK) (FJRE Act), which provides for a request for registration of a foreign judgment to enable enforcement in England and Wales. This can be done at any time within six years from the date of the judgment.

The scope of the FJRE Act

The FJRE Act applies to various countries within the Commonwealth, such as New Zealand and Singapore, as well as former Commonwealth member Zimbabwe. The scope has been extended to also cover the following countries: Australia, Canada (all provinces and territories except Quebec), Guernsey, India, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Pakistan, Tonga, Israel and Surinam.

Setting aside a foreign judgement registered in the UK

Registration of a foreign judgment may be set aside by a defendant – this is also covered by the FJRE Act – an application to set the judgment aside must demonstrate that the originating court did not have jurisdiction to determine the proceedings; jurisdiction will be deemed to exist where:

• a defendant submitted to a court by filing a defence
• a counter-claim was filed
• a defendant was resident in the jurisdiction
• a defendant had an office or place of business in the jurisdiction and the proceedings were in respect of a transaction effected through that office or place of business.

How can we help?

If you need a foreign judgment to be registered and enforced in England and Wales, our team of dispute resolution lawyers can help. Please contact Claire Holford at [email protected] or on 0118 338 0836.