RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN JUDGMENT UNDER PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW
RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN JUDGMENT UNDER PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2008-06
Authors
AISHA KERA, FARIDA
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Judgment or order of the court is meant to be effected or enforced. So that
justice will be seen to have been done, any failure to effect or enforce such
judgment will be nothing but travesty of justice. For example where a
plaintiff brings an action against the defendant in Nigeria for damages for
breach of contract or for tort, and eventually obtains judgment, only to
discover that the defendant has surreptitiously removed his assets to
England, so that the Nigerian judges can not enforce the judgment. The
question here is must he begin all over again and bring a fresh action against
the defendant in England? Or what happens to the judgment? Currently, the
answer is no to both questions. The law has provided an avenue where the
plaintiff can now pursue the judgment to England, for the court in England
to authenticate and coarse the defendant to comply with the judgment. This
in conflict of laws parlance is what is known as recognition and enforcement
of foreign judgment. In an application for the recognition and enforcement
of a foreign judgment to an English or Nigerian court the court is obliged to
find out and be sure that the judgment was not obtained by fraud and that the
trial court had jurisdiction to have tried the case and that the judgment of
that court was final and conclusive. However, even in this circumstances the
Nigerian court by virtue of the provision of the foreign judgment
(Reciprocal enforcement) Act laws of the federation of Nigeria Cap F35
2004, the judgment shall only be recognized or enforced if it is obtained
from a superior court of a country which the minister is satisfied shall give
the same treatment to Nigerian judgment. The above explanation is what
recognition and enforcement of foreign judgment is all about and where a
judgment is entered in his favour he can pursue the judgment to a foreign
jurisdiction
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE POST-GRADUATE SCHOOL,
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA IN PARTIAL
FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT OF
MASTER OF LAWS (LL.M) DEGREE
JUNE
Keywords
RECOGNITION, ENFORCEMENT, FOREIGN JUDGMENT, UNDER PRIVATE, INTERNATIONAL LAW