Enforcing Foreign Judgements and Arbitration Awards in England and Wales

The first step in enforcing a judgment or award is to ascertain which set of rules apply. England is a party to several reciprocal regimes which allow for the enforcement of foreign judgments in England, without the need to commence fresh proceedings. Not all jurisdictions are covered by these reciprocal regimes. Accordingly, there are broadly four categories:

Judgments

The European Regime

Under the Brussels Regulation 44/2001, a claimant who has obtained a judgment in one EU member state may enforce it in another member state without issuing separate proceedings. The regulation covers all judgments in civil and commercial matters obtained on or after 1 March 2002 except, amongst other things, insolvency and arbitration. Applications for registration should be made within 6 years of the date of the original judgment.

There are still circumstances where the old European regime (i.e. the Brussels Convention and the new and old Lugano Conventions) may apply, for example to judgments given before the Brussels Regulation came into effect.

Under Regulation 805/200 (which came into force in October 2005), judgments made on 21 January 2005 and after can also be certified as a European Enforcement Order (EEO) if they relate to uncontested claims in civil or commercial matters. Uncontested claims are claims which, in the course of the court proceedings, the debtor has admitted/settled or has never objected to, or claims in relation to which the debtor has never appeared or been represented at court after initially objecting to the claim. The effect of the EEO is that a judgment obtained in one EU member state can be immediately enforced in the courts of another EU member state (where the defendant has assets) without requiring the judgment to first be formally recognised or registered. This regime does not apply to Denmark.

Other Reciprocal Regimes

Where the judgment originates in a non-EU country, there may be other statutory or bilateral conventions that could be relied upon to enforce the judgment in England and Wales.

The Administration of Justice Act 1920 provides for the enforcement by registration of certain judgments from the courts of many colonial and commonwealth countries (for example Barbados, the BVI, Singapore and New Zealand). This covers judgments made by the higher courts of those countries.

The UK has also entered into bilateral treaties with some countries (for example Australia, Guernsey, India and parts of Canada) pursuant to...

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