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Foreign Judgment In The United States

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Introduction
The recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in the United States can be a quite confusing and complex matter. To begin with, every judgment from another state that is not from the one in which enforcement is sought in, is considered a “foreign judgment” regardless of whether the judgment is from another state within the United States or a foreign country. Luckily for foreign judgments from sister states, the Full Faith and Credit Clause of Article IV, Section 1 of the United States Constitution applies. Judgment creditors for foreign country money judgments, however, are not so lucky because they cannot benefit from the Full Faith and Credit Clause. Furthermore, the United States has not ratified any international …show more content…

When a foreign judgment is recognized, the recognition essentially domesticates the judgment, thus making it equal to any other judgment produced by a U.S. court, as well as to judgments of other state courts that benefit from the full faith and credit clause. A recognized judgment produces res judicata effects in the jurisdiction that recognizes the judgment. However, just because a judgment is recognized, it does not mean that the judgment will be enforced because that requires the aid of the courts and law enforcement of the enforcing jurisdiction which may or may not be afforded along with the recognition of the judgment. Therefore, it is important for creditors seeking to enforce a foreign judgment to be familiar with the law of the state in which enforcement is sought. But with the lack of federal or an applicable treaty, that can be difficult for judgment creditors. Under the current system, a foreign country money judgment creditor’s best option is to attempt to enforce the judgment in a state that has adopted both the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (“UEFJA”) and the Uniform Foreign Money-Judgments Recognition Act (UFMJRA) or the …show more content…

The ULC also saw the need to improve the 1948 Act because the widespread adoption by the states of some form of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure which include regular summary judgment practice made the special summary judgment acts provided in the 1948 Act superfluous. The 1964 revision adopted the practice used in federal courts and provides the enacting state with a speedy and economical method. The 1964 UEFJA also “relieves creditors and debtors of the additional cost of harassment of further litigation which would otherwise be incident to the enforcement of the foreign judgment.” The 1964 revision allows the judgment creditor to file a copy of the foreign judgment which the clerk would then treat in the same manner as a local judgment. This means that the foreign judgment would have the same effect and would be subject to the same procedures, defenses, and proceedings for reopening, vacating, or staying as a judgment of the state in which the UEFJA is enacted in and may be enforced or satisfied in the same manner. At the time of filing the foreign judgment, the creditor has to file with the clerk an affidavit that sets forth the name and last known post office address of the judgment debtor, and the judgment creditor, and the clerk will then mail notice of the filing to the judgment debtor. If the judgment debtor

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