GUERNSEY Law and Practice Contributed by: Elaine Gray and Steven Balmer, Carey Olsen
ably follow the approach of the English courts in respect of pre-judgment interest. Interest may be recovered on costs awards. Where a contractual provision permits interest on interest this will generally be upheld in the absence of a good reason to the contrary. 9.4 Enforcement Mechanisms of a Domestic Judgment Where a judgment has been obtained against a defendant, a plaintiff can enforce against wages or other assets such as bank accounts, boats or airplanes. A plaintiff may also enforce against a defendant’s real property through a process known as saisie . 9.5 Enforcement of a Judgment From a Foreign Country There are two potential routes to enforcement of a foreign judgment: through common law and through a statutory regime. Under common law methods, a judgment credi- tor must sue on the judgment in the same way that a creditor would sue on a simple debt in Guernsey. It is unusual for a foreign judgment to be challenged. The only scope for doing so is where: • the foreign court had no jurisdiction; • the judgment was obtained through fraud; • the proceedings in the foreign court breached natural justice requirements; or • enforcement would be contrary to public policy in Guernsey. The statutory method is only available for a small number of jurisdictions and provides a stream- lined method for having such judgments recog- nised and enforced. The judgment must be of a
superior court, be final and conclusive and be one the foreign court had jurisdiction to grant.
10. Appeal 10.1 Levels of Appeal or Review to a Litigation There are various levels of appeal depending on where proceedings originate. The Royal Court hears civil appeals from the Magistrate’s Court, legislative “judicial review” type appeals under, for example, various regulatory and planning law regimes, appeals from the Court of Alderney and appeals from the Court of the Seneschal of Sark. Appeals from the proceedings originating in the Royal Court go to the Guernsey Court of Appeal and from there to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. In addition to these appeal procedures, Guern- sey also recognises judicial review as a remedy in respect of executive action and continues to recognise a customary law appellate device known as a requête civile . This is a specific pro- cedure equivalent to an application to set aside a default judgment, and can be used where the challenge is not to the merits of the decision but for some other reason such as fraud or wrong- doing. 10.2 Rules Concerning Appeals of Judgments There is a right of appeal from the Magistrate’s Court to the Royal Court and from there to the Court of Appeal in respect of a final decision and concerns a point of law or where the value of the claim exceeds GBP200. Otherwise, leave to appeal is required (for example, on consent orders and costs orders).
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