By Kiren Narayan - 15 Jul 2022
Despite the mass exodus from New Zealand, there are still people
coming to New Zealand - and sometimes escaping judgments against
them. Can leaving the country leave behind your obligations?
The short answer is no. There are different ways to enforce a
foreign judgment in New Zealand. The first step is to get the
judgment recognised in New Zealand. Once this is done, all the
usual methods of enforcement are available.
Australian judgments
Judgments given in any Court of Australia (senior or inferior)
can be registered under the Trans-Tasman Proceedings Act 2010. The
application has to be made to the Court that has the power to give
the relief in the judgment. That is, if the District Court does not
have the power to give effect to the judgment, the registration
must be in the High Court.
Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments Act
1934
The Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments Act 1934
(Act), allows for the registration of judgments
from senior Courts in the United Kingdom.
Orders in Council made under the Act also allow for the
registration of judgments by senior Courts (Courts with unlimited
jurisdiction) in New Zealand. At this stage, there are Orders
in Council to allow for the registration of judgments from France,
Belgium, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Gilbert and Ellice Islands
(Kiribati and Tuvalu), Basutoland (Lesotho), Bechuanaland
(Botswana), Swaziland, Malaysia, Singapore, Sarawak, North Borneo,
Papua New Guinea, Nigeria and the Cameroons, India, Hong Kong,
Ceylon, Pakistan, Western Samoa and Tonga.
Once a judgment is registered, it has the same force and effect
as a High Court judgment and carries interest as if it were a High
Court judgment.
Memorial under the Senior Courts Act 2016
There is a similar process for judgments, decrees, rules or
orders obtained in any Court of a commonwealth country. Any person
can file in the High Court a memorial authenticated by the
commonwealth Court of the judgment obtained in that commonwealth
Court.
The High Court can then summon the person against whom the
judgment was obtained to give them an opportunity to state why it
shouldn't be executed. If the person does not appear or doesn't
have a good reason for not executing the judgment, it becomes
absolute.
Other judgments
This does not mean that judgments from other Courts cannot be
enforced. Instead of the procedures set down in the above statutes,
the foreign judgments will simply have to be through common law,
generally by issuing summary judgment proceedings. Upon receiving
judgment, the usual methods of enforcement in New Zealand are open
to you.
If you are the creditor of a judgment obtained overseas and the
debtor is in New Zealand, get in touch with our litigation
team to enforce it.
Contact
Kiren
Narayan