Foreign Judgments Act 1991

A judgment creditor under a judgment to which this Part applies may apply to the appropriate court at any time within 6 years after:

the date of the judgment; or

where there have been proceedings by way of appeal against the judgment, the date of the last judgment in those proceedings;

For the registration of a foreign judgment against a foreign State, or a separate entity of a foreign State, see the Foreign States Immunities Act 1985.

For the purposes of subsection (1), the appropriate court is:

if the judgment is a money judgment and was given in proceedings in which a matter for determination arises under the Commerce Act 1986 of New Zealand (other than proceedings in which a matter for determination arises under section 36A, 98H or 99A of that Act)—the Federal Court of Australia or the Supreme Court of a State or Territory; or

if the judgment is not a money judgment and was given in such proceedings—the Federal Court of Australia; or

in any other case—the Supreme Court of a State or Territory.

Subject to this Act and to proof of the matters prescribed by the applicable Rules of Court, if an application is made under this section, the Supreme Court of a State or Territory or the Federal Court of Australia is to order the judgment to be registered.

The court’s order must state the period within which an application may be made under section 7 to have the registration of the judgment set aside.

The court may, by order, extend the period within which such an application may be made.

A judgment is not to be registered if at the date of the application:

it has been wholly satisfied; or

it could not be enforced in the country of the original court.

Subject to sections 7 and 14:

a registered judgment has, for the purposes of enforcement, the same force and effect; and

proceedings may be taken on a registered judgment; and

the amount for which a judgment is registered carries interest; and

the registering court has the same control over the enforcement of a registered judgment;

A judgment registered under this section in the Supreme Court of a State or Territory is registrable in the Supreme Court of any other State or Territory under Part 6 of the Service and Execution of Process Act 1992 as if the judgment had been originally given in the first‑mentioned Supreme Court and entered on the day of registration.

Subsection (8) does not apply if an order has been made under section 8 that enforcement of the judgment be stayed.

Action is not to be taken to enforce a registered judgment:

during the period fixed under subsection (4) (including any extensions of that period under subsection (5)) as the period during which a party may apply to have the registration of the judgment set aside; or

where such an application has been made, until after the application has been finally determined.

Subject to subsection (12), if the amount payable under a judgment that is to be registered is expressed in a currency other than Australian currency, the judgment is to be registered:

if the judgment creditor has stated in the application that the judgment creditor wishes the judgment to be registered in the currency in which it is expressed—in that currency; or

in any other case—as if it were for an equivalent amount in Australian currency, based on the rate of exchange prevailing on the second business day (the conversion day) before the day on which the application for registration is made.

For the purposes of paragraph (11)(b), the rate of exchange prevailing on the conversion day referred to in that paragraph is the average of the rates at which Australian dollars may be bought in the currency in which the judgment is expressed at:

11 am; or

if another time is prescribed for the purposes of this subsection—that other time;

The reference in paragraph (11)(b) to a business day is a reference to a day on which the authorised foreign exchange dealers selected by the judgment creditor as mentioned in subsection (11A) publish rates at which Australian dollars may be bought in the currency in which the judgment is expressed.

If, on the day of the application for registration of a judgment, the judgment of the original court has been partly satisfied, the judgment is not to be registered in respect of the whole amount payable under the judgment of the original court, but only in respect of the balance remaining payable on that day.

If, on an application to a court for the registration of a judgment, it appears to the 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 those provisions, but not in respect of any other provisions contained in it.

Without affecting the operation of subsection (13), where, on an application to a court for the registration of a judgment, it appears to the court that:

the judgment is in respect of an amount of money payable in respect of both recoverable Papua New Guinea income tax and non‑recoverable tax; and

the judgment could have been registered if it had been in respect of recoverable Papua New Guinea income tax only;

A judgment registered under this section is to be registered for:

the reasonable costs of and incidental to registration, including the cost of obtaining a certified copy of the judgment from the original court and the costs of obtaining from foreign exchange dealers evidence of the rates at which Australian dollars may be bought in the currency in which the judgment is expressed; and

where an amount of money is payable under the judgment—any interest which, by the law of the country of the original court, becomes due under the judgment up to the time of registration.

In this section: