JERSEY Law and Practice Contributed by: Amy Benest, William Redgrave, Jared Dann and Lynne Gregory, Baker & Partners
Where the judgment debtor is in Jersey, this period tends to be short (one-to-two weeks). Where the judg - ment debtor is located outside Jersey, the Judicial Greffier will recognise that it will take longer to effect service and then instruct a Jersey Advocate so will ensure that a reasonable period (such as a month) will be applied. During the period of time set by the Judicial Greffier for applying to set aside the registration, the registered judgment may not be enforced. Once it may be enforced, the judgment creditor shall instruct the Viscount to enforce the judgment. As part of the letter of instruction, the judgment creditor must prove to the Viscount that the notice of registration has been served upon the judgment debtor. Customary Method If a foreign judgment does not fall within the Law, the applicant must issue fresh proceedings by pleading out the claim for recognition in an Order of Justice. The Order of Justice will assert that that foreign judg - ment represents a final determination of the merits of the underlying dispute and ought to be recognised by the Jersey Court by way of comity. It is common to annex the foreign judgment to the Order of Justice. The Order of Justice must be served upon the defend - ant, the foreign judgment debtor. If the defendant is in Jersey, the Viscount will personally serve the Order of Justice. If the defendant is not in Jersey, the judgment creditor will have to apply on an ex parte for leave to serve out of the jurisdiction in compliance with the Service of Process Rules 2019. This is done by writ - ten application to the Master of the Royal Court, sup - ported by a detailed affidavit providing the information required by the Service of Process Rules. The Order of Justice is served together with a sum - mons which gives notice to the defendant of the initial procedural hearing at which the defendant must give notice of whether they will submit to judgment, defend the proceedings or challenge the Court’s jurisdiction. At the initial procedural hearing, which takes place on a Friday afternoon, if the defendant does not appear, the plaintiff may apply for default judgment.
If the defendant indicates that they wish to defend the claim for enforcement, the proceedings will be placed on the Pending List. In these circumstances, the plaintiff will usually make an application for sum - mary judgment during the interlocutory phase. The plaintiff will need to show that that the defendant has no real prospect of successfully defending the claim for enforcement, and that there is no other compelling reason why the proceedings should proceed to full trial. If the defendant survives an application for sum - mary judgment, the proceedings will advance to trial. 3.5 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Foreign Judgments The costs and time taken under each procedure will greatly depend upon whether the original judgment debtor challenges the steps taken by the plaintiff. The Registration Method, absent an application to set aside registration, will usually be dealt with swiftly by the Judicial Greffier (within a week, depending upon her other commitments). If the application is not pre - pared in compliance with the requirements of the Law, the Judicial Greffier may ask supplemental questions or even call the applicant to a hearing. Enforcement thereafter will depend upon the location of the judg - ment debtor and how easily the assets may be real- ised. Because the initial application is done on an ex parte basis, the costs are usually relatively low. The Customary Method may take considerably longer if leave to serve out is required, if the defendant chal - lenges jurisdiction, if the defendant resists judgment. The costs will depend upon how long the process takes. There is also the risk of costs orders being made against the plaintiff if the defendant success - fully resists any steps taken by the plaintiff. 3.6 Challenging Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Registration Method As mentioned in 3.5 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Foreign Judgments , the application for registration is made on an ex parte basis. Therefore, the first chance for the debtor to challenge enforcement is to make an application to set aside the registration. The grounds that might be raised are:
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