This paper is written on the assumption that the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 is fully in operation. In fact, although the Act received the Royal Assent on July 13, 1982, most of its provisions, including those implementing the EEC Conventions of 1968–78, will come into force on a date or dates to be specified by commencement order (see Sch. 13, Part I, para. 3). Some provisions, including ss. 32–34 and 38, came into force on Aug. 24, 1982 (see para. 2). It may reasonably be expected that the whole Act will be in force in 1984, and this paper is accordingly written on the assumption that the Act is fully in operation. In addition, transitional provisions will largely be ignored; for these, see especially the Accession Convention, Art. 34, and the 1982 Act, Sch. 13, Part II.

For present purposes, a foreign personal judgment may be broadly defined as a judgment of a foreign court determining a claim for particular relief against a particular defendant (or particular defendants) under the law of obligations or property. “Judgment” includes an order, decree etc.; “court” means a regular judicial body having compulsory jurisdiction for a territory (as distinct from private arbitrators, including a permanent arbitral body, whose jurisdiction can only be based on consent); and “foreign” refers to any territory outside England (thus including, e.g. Scotland); but the European Community Court and Commission are excluded. “Particular relief etc.” includes, e.g. a claim for recovery of a contract debt, or of damages for breach of a contract or a tort (including a tort against a proprietary interest), or for specific recovery of particular property, or specific performance of a contract, or an injunction against a breach of contract or a tort, or a declaration as to the parties’ mutual rights in respect of a contract or particular property. But decrees declaring or changing the status of individuals (e.g. divorce, annulment of marriage, declaration of legitimacy), child-custody orders, bankruptcy adjudications, corporate-liquidation orders, and deceased’s estate administrations and successions are excluded; and judgments on familial-support-obligations, which would require additional discussion, will be ignored. Foreign proprietary judgments (i.e. determining title to or ordering