ENGLAND & WALES Law and Practice Contributed by: James Herring, Nathalie Allen and David Wigg, Addleshaw Goddard
For judgments that fall under the Brussels 2001 or Lugano regimes, a judicial order registering the judg - ment must first be obtained before domestic enforce - ment action can take place. An application must be made to the High Court for an order that the judgment be registered. An authenticated copy of the judgment is required, with a standard form certificate that it is enforceable under the law of the state of origin. The courts also require notarised translations into English and written evidence in support of the application (the evidence required varies depending on which regime applies). No notice of the application to register needs to be given to the judgment debtor. The Hague Convention 2005 and the Hague Judgments Convention 2019 For judgments falling within the Hague Convention 2005 or the Hague Judgments Convention 2019, an application must be made for registration in the same way as set out in the previous paragraph. The evi - dence required in support of the application is set out in Article 13 of the Hague Convention 2005 and Arti - cle 12 of the Hague Judgments Convention 2019. No notice of the application to register needs to be given to the judgment debtor. Statutory Regimes Judgments falling under the AJA 1920 or the 1933 Act must also be registered. The 1933 Act prescribes in more detail than the AJA 1920 what evidence is required to support the application. The requirements for applications under both Acts are set out in the Civil Procedure Rules at CPR 74.4. There are strict time limits. Post-Registration Requirements – European, Lugano, Hague Conventions and Statutory Regimes In all cases where a foreign judgment is registered, the order giving permission to register must be served on the judgment debtor. It must include: • the full details of the judgment registered; • the name of the creditor and their address for service; • the right of the debtor to apply to set the registra - tion aside or to appeal, depending on which regime applies; and
• the period within which a challenge, if any, must be made and stating that no enforcement measures may be taken until the end of that period (other than protective measures). Common Law Enforcement – Where No Other Regime Applies Under the common law, a fresh claim in the courts of England and Wales must be started and a domes - tic judgment obtained before any enforcement can take place. The judgment creditor will usually apply for summary judgment (a form of early determination) in the new domestic proceedings (under Part 24 of the Civil Procedure Rules), on the grounds that the defendant’s liability has already been decided, so the debtor should have no defence to the claim. In response, the defendant may argue that one of the grounds to challenge recognition applies. These are dealt with in more detail under 3.6 Challenging Enforcement of Foreign Judgments . 3.5 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Foreign Judgments Under the Recast Brussels Regulation, the neces - sary steps to take in order to be in a position to start enforcement action in England and Wales should be relatively inexpensive and swift. This is, how - ever, always subject to any challenge by the judg - ment debtor that can change the position. If there is no challenge, it should be possible to start English enforcement proceedings almost immediately. If registration is required (all other EU/EFTA judgments, the Hague Convention 2005, the Hague Judgments Convention 2019 and the statutory regimes), it may take a few weeks for the registration process to com - plete before enforcement procedures can be started. If the common law regime applies and fresh proceed - ings are required, even if an application for summary judgment is successful, the minimum period for an enforceable judgment is likely to be several months from the date of issue of the new claim, and could be longer. Under any of the routes outlined above, challenges by a judgment debtor will delay the process and increase the cost, even if ultimately unsuccessful.
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