NIGERIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ibukun Enigbokan, Yussuf Akinola Oyebanjo, Temilade Oluwaseun Adepate and Hafeezah Salau, Streamsowers & Köhn
ii) By legislation Some Canadian provinces have enacted legislation for the reciprocal enforcement of judgments, which permits the registration of a foreign judgment. The legislation of each province also lays down varying procedural and substantive requirements for the reg - istration of foreign judgments. Once the Canadian courts register a foreign judgment, it is enforceable as a Canadian judgment. However, legislation for reg - istering a foreign judgment by some Canadian prov - inces is based on reciprocity, such that only parties from reciprocating jurisdictions can benefit from its application. They include: • Alberta’s Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments Act, RSA 2000, c R-6,8 (1), under which the Reciprocating Jurisdictions Regulation was made to apply to judgments of the Commonwealth of Australia and the States of Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Arizona, in addition to other Cana - dian provinces and external territories; • British Columbia’s Court Order Enforcement Act RSBC, 1996, c 78, which only applies to Aus - tralia, the Federal Republic of Germany, the United Kingdom, Austria, and the States of Washington, Alaska, California, Oregon, Colorado, and Idaho in addition to other Canadian provinces and external territories; • Manitoba’s Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments Act, CCSM, c J20, which only applies to judgments of the states and territories of Australia (except for New South Wales) and the states of Idaho and Washington, in addition to other Canadian prov - inces and external territories; • Newfoundland and Labrador’s Reciprocal Enforce - ment of Judgments Act RSNL 1990, c R-4, which only applies to Australia, including some of its external territories and other Canadian provinces and external territories; • Ontario’s Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments (UK) Act, RSO 1990, c R.6, which applies to the UK; and • Canada-United Kingdom Civil and Commercial Judgments Conventions Act, RSC 1985, c C-30, which has been domesticated in some Canadian provinces and applies to judgments of Canada and the UK.
Further, the New Brunswick’s Foreign Judgments Act, RSNB 2011, c 162, and Saskatchewan’s Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, SS 2005, c E-9.121 codi - fied the principles of common law established by the Canadian courts. South Africa In South Africa, foreign judgments are enforceable under the Enforcement of Foreign Civil Judgments Act 32 of 1998 (the “EFCJ Act”) and common law. Section 2 (1) of the EFCJ Act applies to judgments given in any country outside South Africa, which the Minister of Justice (of South Africa) has designated by notice in the Gazette. Upon registration under the EFCJ Act, a foreign judgment becomes enforceable as a South African judgment. So far, the EFCJ Act has only been made applicable to Namibia. Hence, any other foreign judgment is only enforceable by com - mon law. Enforcement under the EFCJ Act and common law is not subject to reciprocity. Instead, South African courts are guided by fairness, jurisdictional compe - tence, statutory compliance, and public policy. Singapore Singapore’s Reciprocal Enforcement of Foreign Judg - ments Act is contingent on reciprocity. Singapore is a party to the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements 2005 (Hague Convention 2005), whose application is also conditional on reciprocity. Once registered, the judgment becomes enforceable as a Singaporean judgment. In Singapore, a foreign judgment is also enforceable under common law. UK In the UK, enforcement can be sought under legisla - tion by registration and/or at common law by fresh legal proceedings on the foreign judgment as a debt. Once registered by the UK courts, a foreign judgment becomes enforceable as a UK judgment. The applica - tion of the UK’s legislation, such as the Administra - tion of Justice Act 1920 and the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1933, is contingent on reciprocity. Also, the UK is a party to the Hague Con -
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