ENGLAND & WALES Law and Practice Contributed by: James Herring, Nathalie Allen and David Wigg, Addleshaw Goddard
Under the AJA 1920 No judgment may be registered (or any registration may be set aside) if: • the application is made more than 12 months after the date of the original judgment (or longer if the English court permits); • the original court had no jurisdiction over the mat - ter; • the judgment debtor was not resident or carrying on business in the original jurisdiction and did not voluntarily submit to that jurisdiction; • the debtor was not served with the original pro - ceedings and did not appear or submit to the original jurisdiction; • the judgment was obtained by fraud; • enforcement would be contrary to UK public policy; • an appeal is pending in the original court, or the debtor is entitled to appeal and intends to do so; or • the judgment is in respect of a cause of action that could not have been brought in England. Under the 1933 Act No judgment may be registered (or registration may be set aside) if: • the judgment does not fall within the types of judg - ments covered by the 1933 Act; • the original court had no jurisdiction; • the defendant did not receive notice in sufficient time to enable them to defend the proceedings, and did not appear to defend them; • the judgment was obtained by fraud; • enforcement would be contrary to UK public policy; or • the rights under the judgment are not vested in the applicant for registration. Registration may be set aside if, prior to the date of the original judgment, the matter had been the subject of a final judgment by a court with jurisdiction over the matter. Under the common law Examples of grounds for defending a fresh claim based on a foreign judgment include the following.
• The defendant was not “present” in the foreign jurisdiction when the original foreign proceedings started and did not agree to abide by the outcome. • The judgment: (a) is not for a sum of money, but some other rem- edy, or is for liability only; (b) represents an award of multiple damages (which are prohibited in the UK under Section 5 of the Protection of Trading Interests Act 1980); (c) relates to the enforcement of foreign taxes; (d) is in relation to foreign property rather than against a natural or legal person (ie, is a judg - ment in rem); (e) is not final and conclusive; (f) is contrary to UK public policy; (g) is obtained by fraud; or (h) is in breach of contract (for example, in breach of an agreed jurisdiction agreement). • The trial was unfair and/or Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights obliges the courts of England and Wales not to give effect to it. 4. Arbitral Awards 4.1 Legal Issues Concerning Enforcement of Arbitral Awards When considering the enforcement of arbitral awards in England and Wales, different considerations apply depending on whether the arbitral award in question was made outside England, Wales and Northern Ire - land (termed a foreign award) or within these territories (termed a domestic award). Domestic Awards The Arbitration Act 1996 (the “1996 Act”) governs the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, to be supple - mented by the Arbitration Act 2025 (the “2025 Act”) when it comes into force. Section 66 (1) of the 1996 Act provides that an award made by a tribunal pursu - ant to an arbitration agreement may, by leave of the court, be enforced in the same manner as a judgment or order of the court to the same effect. Furthermore, where leave is so given, judgment may be entered in terms of the award (Section 66 (2)). Accordingly, fol - lowing obtaining leave, it is open to a party to enforce a domestic award in England and Wales, and the
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