UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Clare Swirski, E. Drew Dutton, Hugo Laing and Rosamund Wood, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
The European Regime Judgments from EU and certain EFTA countries will fall under the European regime if the judgment was handed down on or before 31 December 2020. Under the European regime, the judgment creditor requires the leave of the court to enforce a foreign judgment, following which it can be enforced as if it were an English judgment. The enforcement procedure in these cases will still depend on the law of the enforc- ing state. For judgments issued after 31 December 2020, the statutory regime or the common law rules that apply to the enforcement of judgments from non-EU/EFTA countries will apply instead. So far, the UK’s attempts to accede to the Lugano Convention after 31 Decem- ber 2020 have proved unsuccessful. The only agree- ment that the UK has reached in this respect to date is the treaty signed with Norway on 13 October 2020, which provides for the continued application of the enforcement provisions of the 2007 Lugano Conven- tion. The Statutory Regime Judgments from most Commonwealth countries and certain other countries covered by statutory instru- ments, such as the Administration of Justice Act 1920 and the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1933, are enforced under the statutory regime. Enforcement under the statutory regime requires a registration of the foreign judgment, without the need to commence a fresh action or to issue notice to the debtor until registration has been ordered. The onus then falls on the debtor to apply to set the registra- tion aside. The Common Law Regime Judgments from the rest of the world (ie, countries not covered by the European regime after 31 December 2020 or by the statutory regime) are enforced under the common law regime, unless they are subject to other arrangements. When enforcement is sought under the common law regime, the judgment debtor needs to commence fresh proceedings to enforce the foreign judgment as a debt. The grounds for resisting the enforcement under the statutory regime and com- mon law regime are wider than those under the Euro- pean regime, and will depend on the country where
defence. The claimant can reply to the defence. If the defence includes a counterclaim, the claimant’s reply must also include a defence. The next steps include disclosure, when each party is required to disclose to the other documents within its control that are relevant to the issues in dispute. The disclosure obligation in English litigation is wide and requires each party to disclose documents that sup- port or harm their case or their opponent’s case. The High Court has taken steps to reform the disclosure process to ensure it is as targeted and efficient as possible. Parties will also typically exchange witness statements on issues of fact and expert reports. The case will then proceed to trial. English trials princi- pally involve each party’s counsel making oral submis- sions and drawing the judge’s attention to the relevant evidence and law, including calling on the evidence of witnesses and experts upon which they seek to rely and cross-examining opposing witnesses and experts. The parties must take each step within prescribed periods of time set out in the civil procedure rules, or decided by the court, including in case management conferences (CMCs) where the parties and the judge decide how the case should be conducted, including setting a timetable for all the steps up to trial. 9.4 Enforcement of Judgments If an unsuccessful party does not voluntarily comply with the judgment of the court, various enforcement procedures are available, including the seizure and sale of that party’s assets or the imposition of a charge over certain assets. There are currently five general regimes for the enforcement of foreign judgments in the UK, and which regime is applicable will depend on when and where the proceedings were initiated. The UK Regime Judgments from Scotland or Northern Ireland will fol- low the UK regime.
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