BAHAMAS Law and Practice Contributed by: Adrian Hunt and Gabrielle Rahming, Graham Thompson
• a writ of sequestration against the property of that person, having obtained leave of the court; • a writ of sequestration against the property of any director or other officer of the body, where that per - son is a body corporate and having obtained leave of the court; or • an order of committal against that person or, where that person is a body corporate, against any such officer, subject to the provisions of the Debtors Act (Chapter 70). This rule must be read together with CPR Rule 50.5, under which as a general rule, enforcement cannot be obtained unless a copy of the order is served person - ally on the person in default with the requisite penal notice indorsed thereon. 5.2 Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Registration of Foreign Judgment by Way of the Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments Act The Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments Act (REJA) enables the registration of foreign judgments, orders and awards in the Supreme Court. REJA applies solely to jurisdictions of reciprocity, namely Barbados, Ber - muda, Jamaica, the Leeward Islands, St Lucia and Trinidad, British Guiana, British Honduras, Australia and the United Kingdom. Under Section 2 of REJA, a judgment means “any judgment or order given or made by a court in any civil proceedings whether before or after the passing of this Act and includes an award in proceedings on an arbitration if the award has, in pursuance of the law in force in the place where it was made, become enforceable in the same manner as a judgment given by a court in that place”. To enforce a judgment obtained outside of The Baha - mas under REJA, the person by whom the judgment was obtained (including the successors and assigns of that person) applies to the Supreme Court, at any time within 12 months after the date of the judgment, or such longer period as may be allowed by the court, to have the judgment registered in the court. The court will consider whether it thinks it is just and convenient that the judgment should be enforced in The Baha - mas. Nevertheless, no judgment shall be ordered to be registered under REJA if:
• the original court acted without jurisdiction; • the judgment debtor, being a person who was neither carrying on business nor ordinarily resident within the jurisdiction of the original court, did not voluntarily appear or otherwise submit or agree to submit to the jurisdiction of that court; • the judgment debtor, being the defendant in the proceedings, was not duly served with the process of the original court and did not appear, notwith - standing that he or she was ordinarily resident or was carrying on business within the jurisdiction of that court, or agreed to submit to the jurisdiction of that court; • the judgment was obtained by fraud; • the judgment debtor satisfies the registering court either that an appeal is pending or that he is or she entitled or intends to appeal against the judgment; or • the judgment was in respect of a cause of action that, for reasons of public policy or for some other similar reason, could not have been entertained by the registering court. Common Law Foreign judgments may also be enforced by an action at common law. Judgment from any country to which REJA has not been extended can be enforced at com - mon law. The method of such enforcement is by way of commencement of an action in the Supreme Court by which a party may seek to have recognised or domes - ticated the order of the foreign court by an order of the Bahamian court. The foreign judgment constitutes a cause of action that can only be opposed on limited grounds, namely: • the foreign court lacked competent jurisdiction; • the rules of natural justice had not been complied with in the foreign proceedings; • the foreign judgment was not final and conclusive; • the judgment debt was not definite or ascertain - able; • the foreign judgment was obtained by fraud; and • recognition of the foreign judgment would be con - trary to public policy in The Bahamas.
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