Jersey Law 14/1960
JUDGMENTS (RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT) (JERSEY) LAW, 1960.
____________
A LAW to
make provision for the enforcement in the Island of judgments given in
countries which accord reciprocal treatment to judgments given in the Island,
for the issue of certificates to facilitate the enforcement in such countries
of judgments given in the Island, and for other purposes in connexion
with the matters aforesaid, sanctioned by Order of Her Majesty in Council of
the
7th day of JUNE, 1960.
____________
(Registered on the 9th day of July, 1960).
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STATES OF JERSEY.
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The 15th day of
March, 1960.
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WHEREAS, on the twenty-seventh day of
June, 1562, Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth I granted by Letters Patent under
the Great Seal, a Charter to the Bailiff and Jurats
and other natives and inhabitants of the Island of Jersey, the said Charter
containing a confirmation of all and singular the laws and customs duly and
lawfully used in the Island, and also granting and confirming to the Bailiff
and Jurats and all other magistrates, officers of
Justice, and any other persons appointed there in any office or duty, full,
absolute and complete authority touching all sorts of pleas, processes, law
suits, actions, disputes and cases of any kind whatsoever arising in the
Island, as well real, personal and mixed, as criminal and capital, and there
and not elsewhere to plead, proceed with, prosecute and defend all these things
and in the same matters either to proceed or supersede, to examine, hear, end,
acquit, condemn, decide and put their sentences into execution according to the
laws and customs of the Island theretofore used and approved;
WHEREAS the said
Charter contains a clause which translated from the original Latin, reads as
follows –
“Moreover we desire and for us our heirs and successors by
these presents we grant to the aforesaid Bailiff and Jurats
and other natives and inhabitants within the Island and other maritime places
before mentioned that none of them for the future should be cited apprehended
or drawn into any lawsuit by any writs or process issued from any of our Courts
or other Courts within our kingdom of England or any of them or in any other
way be compelled to appear or reply without the Island and maritime places
aforesaid before any Judges Courts Magistrates or officers of Justice of ours
or of others concerning or touching any thing suit matter or cause whatsoever
arising within the aforesaid Island but that the said Islanders and any one of
them notwithstanding citations apprehensions writs and processes of the kind
mentioned may and might lawfully and with impunity in the Island and aforesaid
places reside remain be at rest and there await justice without any corporal
punishment or pecuniary fine ransom or loss on that account to be incurred or
suffered and without any offence or cause of contempt or contumacy as far as
concerns our heirs and successors on them or on any one or more of them on that
account to be inflicted imposed or otherwise adjudged. Except only such cases
as by the laws and customs of the Island and aforesaid places may be reserved to
our royal cognisance and examination or by our royal
right or privilege ought to be reserved.”;
AND WHEREAS it is
desirable that provision should be made for the enforcement in the Island,
without prejudice to the privileges and immunities conferred by the said
Charter, of judgments given in countries which accord reciprocal treatment to
judgments given in the Island, and for facilitating the enforcement in such
countries of judgments given in the Island;
THE STATES, subject
to the sanction of Her Most Excellent Majesty in Council, have adopted the
following Law: -
PART I
GENERAL
ARTICLE 1
LIMITATION ON APPLICATION
(1) For
the purposes of this Law, a judgment given by Her Majesty in Council on any
matter originating in the courts of the Island shall not be deemed to be a
judgment given in a court of a country outside the Island, and nothing in this
Law shall affect the procedure applicable before the coming into force of this
Law to the registration in, and the enforcement by, the Royal Court of any such
judgment.
(2) Nothing
in this Law shall enable a judgment creditor to register in the Island any
judgment given by a court of any country outside the Island, whether within or
without Her Majesty’s dominions, in any thing, suit, matter or cause
whatsoever arising within the Island save in a case where, by virtue of
paragraph (2) of Article 6 of this Law, the courts of the country of the
original court are deemed to have jurisdiction.
ARTICLE 2
INTERPRETATION
(1) In
this Law, unless the context otherwise requires: -
“appeal” includes any proceeding by way of discharging
or setting aside a judgment or an application for a new trial or a stay of
execution;
“country of the original court” means the country in
which the original court is situated;
“judgment” means a judgment or order given or made by a
court in any civil proceedings, or a judgment or order given or made by a court
in any criminal proceedings for the payment of a sum of money in respect of
compensation or damages to an injured party;
“judgment creditor” means the person in whose favour the judgment was given and includes any person in
whom the rights under the judgment have become vested by succession or
assignment or otherwise;
“judgment debtor” means the person against whom the
judgment was given, and includes any person against whom the judgment is
enforceable under the law of the original court;
“judgments given in the Royal Court” includes any
judgments given in any court upon appeal against any judgments so given;
“original court” in relation to any judgment means the
court by which the judgment was given;
“prescribed” means prescribed by rules of court;
“registration” means registration under Part II of this
Law, and “register” and “registered” shall be construed
accordingly.
(2) For
the purposes of this Law, “action in personam”
shall not be deemed to include any matrimonial cause or any proceedings in connexion with any of the following matters, that is to
say, matrimonial matters, administration of the estates of deceased persons,
bankruptcy, winding up of companies, lunacy or guardianship of infants.
PART II
REGISTRATION OF FOREIGN JUDGMENTS
ARTICLE 3
POWER TO EXTEND PART II TO COUNTRIES GIVING RECIPROCAL TREATMENT
(1) The
States, if satisfied that, in the event of the benefits conferred by this Part
of this Law being extended to judgments given in the superior courts of any
country outside the Island, whether within or without Her Majesty's dominions,
substantial reciprocity of treatment will be assured as respects the
enforcement in that country of judgments given in the Royal Court, may by Act
direct –
(a) that this Part of this Law
shall extend to that country; and
(b) that such courts of that
country as are specified in the Act shall be deemed superior courts of that
country for the purposes of this Part of this Law.
(2) Any
judgment of a superior court of a country to which this Part of this Law
extends, other than a judgment of such a court given on appeal from a court
which is not a superior court, shall be a judgment to which this Part of this
Law applies, if –
(a) it is final and conclusive as
between the parties thereto; and
(b) there is payable thereunder a
sum of money, not being a sum payable in respect of taxes or other charges of a
like nature or in respect of a fine or other penalty; and
(c) it is given after the coming
into operation of the Act directing that this Part of this Law shall extend to
that country.
(3) For
the purposes of this Article, a judgment shall be deemed to be final and
conclusive notwithstanding that an appeal may be pending against it, or that it
may still be subject to appeal, in the courts of the country of the original
court.
(4) The
States may by a subsequent Act vary or revoke any Act previously made under
this Article.
ARTICLE 4
APPLICATION FOR, AND EFFECT OF, REGISTRATION OF JUDGMENTS
(1) A
person, being a judgment creditor under a judgment to which this Part of this
Law applies, may apply to the Royal Court at any time within six years after
the date of the judgment, or, where there have been proceedings by way of
appeal against the judgment, after the date of the last judgment given in those
proceedings, to have the judgment registered in the Royal Court, and on any
such application the court shall, subject to proof of the prescribed matters and
to the other provisions of this Law, order the judgment to be registered:
Provided that a judgment shall not be registered if at the date of
the application –
(a) it has been wholly satisfied;
or
(b) it could not be enforced by
execution in the country of the original court.
(2) Subject
to the provisions of this Law with respect to the setting aside of registration
–
(a) a registered judgment shall,
for the purposes of execution, be of the same force and effect; and
(b) proceedings may be taken on a
registered judgment; and
(c) the Royal Court shall have
the same control over the execution of a registered judgment;
as if the judgment had been a judgment originally given in the
Royal Court and entered on the date of registration:
Provided that execution shall not issue on the judgment so long as,
under this Part of this Law and the rules of court made thereunder, it is
competent for any party to make an application to have the registration of the
judgment set aside, or, where such an application is made, until after the
application has been finally determined.
(3) Where
the sum payable under a judgment which is to be registered is expressed in a
currency other than the currency of Jersey, the judgment shall be registered as
if it were a judgment for such sum in the currency of Jersey as, on the basis
of the rate of exchange prevailing at the date of the judgment of the original
court, is equivalent to the sum so payable.
(4) If
at the date of the application for registration the judgment of the original
court has been partly satisfied, the judgment shall not be registered in
respect of the whole sum payable under the judgment of the original court, but
only in respect of the balance remaining payable at that date.
(5) If,
on an application for the registration of a judgment, it appears to the Royal
Court that the judgment is in respect of different matters and that some, but
not all, of the provisions of the judgment are such that, if those provisions
had been contained in separate judgments, those judgments could properly have
been registered, the judgment may be registered in respect of the provisions
aforesaid, but not in respect of any other provisions contained therein.
(6) In
addition to the sum of money payable under the judgment of the original court,
including any interest which by the law of the country of the original court
becomes due under the judgment up to the time of registration, the judgment
shall be registered for the reasonable costs of and incidental to registration,
including the costs of obtaining a certified copy of the judgment from the
original court.
ARTICLE 5
RULES OF COURT
(1) The
power to make rules of court under the Royal Court (Jersey) Law, 1948, shall, subject to the provisions of this Article,
include power to make rules of court for the following purposes –
(a) for making provision with
respect to the giving of security for costs by persons applying for the
registration of judgments;
(b) for prescribing the matters
to be proved on an application for the registration of a judgment and for
regulating the mode of proving those matters;
(c) for providing for the service
on the judgment debtor of notice of the registration of a judgment;
(d) for making provision with
respect to the fixing of the period within which an application may be made to
have the registration of the judgment set aside with respect to the extension
of the period so fixed;
(e) for prescribing the method by
which any question arising under this Law whether a foreign judgment can be
enforced by execution in the country of the original court is to be determined;
(f) for providing that the
sum for which a judgment is registered shall carry interest from the date of
the registration at such rate, not exceeding four pounds per centum per annum,
as may be prescribed;
(g) for prescribing any matter
which under this Part of this Law is to be prescribed.
(2) Rules
of court for the purposes of this Part of this Law shall be expressed to have,
and shall have, effect subject to any such provisions contained in Acts made
under Article 3 of this Law as are declared by the said Acts to be necessary
for giving effect to agreements made between Her Majesty and foreign countries
in relation to matters with respect to which there is power to make rules of
court for the purposes of this Part of this Law.
ARTICLE 6
CASES IN WHICH REGISTERED JUDGMENTS MUST, OR MAY, BE SET ASIDE
(1) On
an application in that behalf duly made by any party against whom a registered
judgment may be enforced, the registration of the judgment –
(a) shall be set aside if the
Royal Court is satisfied –
(i) that
the judgment is not a judgment to which this Part of this Law applies or was
registered in contravention of the foregoing provisions of this Law; or
(ii) that
the courts of the country of the original court had no jurisdiction in the
circumstances of the case; or
(iii) that
the judgment debtor, being the defendant in the proceedings in the original
court, did not (notwithstanding that process may have been duly served on him
in accordance with the law of the country of the original court) receive notice
of those proceedings in sufficient time to enable him to defend the proceedings
and did not appear; or
(iv) that
the judgment was obtained by fraud; or
(v) that
the enforcement of the judgment would be contrary to public policy in Jersey;
or
(vi) that
the rights under the judgment are not vested in the person by whom the
application for registration was made;
(b) may be set aside if the Royal
Court is satisfied that the matter in dispute in the proceedings in the
original court had previously to the date of the judgment in the original court
been the subject of a final and conclusive judgment by a court having
jurisdiction in the matter.
(2) For
the purposes of this Article, the courts of the country of the original court
shall, subject to the provisions of paragraph (3) of this Article, be deemed to
have had jurisdiction only –
(a) in the case of a judgment
given in an action in personam –
(i) if
the judgment debtor, being a defendant in the original court, submitted to the
jurisdiction of that court by voluntarily appearing in the proceedings
otherwise than for the purpose of protecting, or obtaining the release of,
property seized, or threatened with seizure, in the proceedings, or of
contesting the jurisdiction of that court; or
(ii) if
the judgment debtor was plaintiff in, or counter-claimed in, the proceedings in
the original court; or
(iii) if the
judgment debtor, being a defendant in the original court, had before the
commencement of the proceedings agreed, in respect of the subject matter of the
proceedings, to submit to the jurisdiction of that court or of the courts of
the country of that court; or
(iv) if the
judgment debtor, being a defendant in the original court, was at the time when
the proceedings were instituted resident in, or being a body corporate had its
principal place of business in, the country of that court; or
(v) if
the judgment debtor, being a defendant in the original court, had an office or
place of business in the country of that court and the proceedings in that
court were in respect of a transaction effected through or at that office or
place;
(b) in the case of a judgment
given in an action of which the subject matter was immovable property or in an
action in rem of which the subject matter was movable
property, if the property in question was at the time of the proceedings in the
original court situate in the country of that court;
(c) in the case of a judgment
given in an action other than any such action as is mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) or sub-paragraph (b) of this paragraph, if the
jurisdiction of the original court is recognised by
the law of Jersey.
(3) Notwithstanding
anything in paragraph (2) of this Article, the courts of the country of the
original court shall not be deemed to have had jurisdiction –
(a) if the subject matter of the
proceedings was immovable property outside the country of the original court;
or
(b) except in the cases mentioned
in sub-paragraph (a)(i), (a)(ii) and (a)(iii) and in sub-paragraph (c) of paragraph (2) of this Article, if
the bringing of the proceedings in the original court was contrary to an
agreement under which the dispute in question was to be settled otherwise than
by proceedings in the courts of the country of that court; or
(c) if the judgment debtor, being
a defendant in the original proceedings, was a person who under the rules of
public international law was entitled to immunity from the jurisdiction of the
courts of the country of the original court and did not submit to the jurisdiction
of that court.
ARTICLE 7
POWERS OF ROYAL COURT ON APPLICATION TO SET ASIDE REGISTRATION
(1) If,
on an application to set aside the registration of a judgment, the applicant
satisfies the Royal Court either that an appeal is pending, or that he is entitled
and intends to appeal, against the judgment, the court, if it thinks fit, may,
on such terms as it may think just, either set aside the registration or
adjourn the application to set aside the registration until after the
expiration of such period as appears to the court to be reasonably sufficient
to enable the applicant to take the necessary steps to have the appeal disposed
of by the competent tribunal.
(2) Where
the registration of a judgment is set aside under paragraph (1) of this
Article, or solely for the reason that the judgment was not at the date of the
application for registration enforceable by execution in the country of the
original court, the setting aside of the registration shall not prejudice a
further application to register the judgment when the appeal has been disposed
of or if and when the judgment becomes enforceable by execution in that
country, as the case may be.
(3) Where
the registration of a judgment is set aside solely for the reason that the
judgment, notwithstanding that it had at the date of the application for
registration been partly satisfied, was registered for the whole sum payable
thereunder, the Royal Court shall, on the application of the judgment creditor,
order judgment to be registered for the balance remaining payable at that date.
ARTICLE 8
JUDGMENTS WHICH CAN BE REGISTERED NOT TO BE ENFORCEABLE OTHERWISE
No proceedings for the recovery of a sum payable under a judgment
to which this Part of this Law applies, other than proceedings by way of
registration of the judgment, shall be entertained by any court in the Island.
PART III
MISCELLANEOUS
ARTICLE 9
GENERAL EFFECT OF CERTAIN JUDGMENTS
(1) Subject
to the provisions of this Article, a judgment to which Part II of this Law
applies or would have applied if a sum of money had been payable thereunder,
whether it can be registered or not, and whether, if it can be registered, it
is registered or not, shall be recognised in any
court in the Island as conclusive between the parties thereto in all
proceedings founded on the same cause of action and may be relied on by way of defence or counterclaim in any such proceedings.
(2) This
Article shall not apply in the case of any judgment –
(a) where the judgment has been
registered and the registration thereof has been set aside on some ground other
than –
(i) that
a sum of money was not payable under the judgment; or
(ii) that
the judgment had been wholly or partly satisfied; or
(iii) that
at the date of the application the judgment could not be enforced by execution
in the country of the original court; or
(b) where the judgment has not
been registered and it is shown, whether the judgment could have been
registered or not, that if it had been registered the registration thereof
would have been set aside on an application for that purpose on some ground
other than one of the grounds specified in sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph.
(3) Nothing
in this Article shall be taken to prevent any court in the Island recognising any judgment as conclusive of any matter of law
or fact decided therein if that judgment would have been so recognised
before the coming into force of this Law.
ARTICLE 10
POWER TO MAKE JUDGMENTS UNENFORCEABLE IF NO RECIPROCITY
(1) If
it appears to the States that the treatment in respect of recognition and enforcement
accorded by the courts of any other country to judgments given in the Island is
substantially less favourable than that accorded by
the courts of the Island to judgments of the superior courts of that country,
the States may by Act apply this Article to that country.
(2) Except
in so far as the States may by Act under this Article otherwise direct, no
proceedings shall be entertained in any court in the Island for the recovery of
any sum alleged to be payable under a judgment given in a court of a country to
which this Article applies.
(3) The
States may by a subsequent Act vary or revoke any Act previously made under
this Article.
ARTICLE 11
ISSUE OF CERTIFICATES OF JUDGMENTS OBTAINED IN THE ISLAND
Where a judgment under which a sum of money is payable, not being a
sum payable in respect of taxes or other charges of a like nature or in respect
of a fine or other penalty, has been entered in the Royal Court against any
person and the judgment creditor is desirous of enforcing the judgment in a country
to which Part II of this Law applies, the court shall, on an application made
by the judgment creditor, issue to the judgment creditor a certified copy of
the judgment, together with a certificate containing such particulars with
respect to the action, including the causes of action, and the rate of interest
(if any) payable on the sum payable under the judgment, as may be prescribed:
Provided that, where execution of a judgment is stayed for any
period pending an appeal or for any other reason, an application shall not be
made under this Article with respect to the judgment until the expiration of
that period.
ARTICLE 12
SHORT TITLE
This Law may be cited as the Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement)
(Jersey) Law, 1960.
To be printed, published and posted.
F. DE L. BOIS,
Greffier of the States.