LEGAL PRINCIPLE: CIVIL PROCEDURE — Enforcement of Foreign Judgments — Interaction Between 1958 Ordinance and 1990 Act — Saving Clause Under Section 9(1)
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
Part I of the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act applies to judgments obtained in courts of the Commonwealth as it applies to foreign countries. The Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments Ordinance ceased to have effect except in relation to parts of Her Majesty's dominions to which it extended at the commencement of the Act.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Kalgo, JSC, in Macaulay v. Raiffeisen Zentral Bank Osterreich Akiengesellschaft (RZB) of Austria (2003) NLC-1092002(SC) at pp. 2–3; Paras A–C.
"This Part of this Act shall apply to any part of the Commonwealth other than Nigeria and to judgments obtained in the courts thereof as it applies to foreign countries and to judgments obtained in the courts of foreign countries, and the Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments Ordinance shall cease to have effect except in relation to those parts of Her Majesty's dominions other than Nigeria to which it extended at the date of the commencement of this Act."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
The 1990 Act supersedes the 1958 Ordinance. The principle applies to enforcement of foreign judgments. Commonwealth judgments are treated like foreign judgments. The rule is statutory. The Ordinance continues only for certain dominions. The principle is well-established.