The jurisdiction of the Maltese courts in the matter of enforcement of foreign judgements

Abstract

The development of social and commercial intercourse among men of different nations has presented a continuous problem of legal organisation. The establishment of International Intercourse, primarily on the recognition in one country of acts performed in another. Unsatisfied foreign judgements often give rise to complicated questions. If a plaintiff fails to obtain satisfaction of a judgement in the country where it has been granted, the question arises whether it is enforceable in another country where the defendant is found. It is clear at the outset that owing to the principle of territorial sovereignty a judgement delivered in one country cannot, in the absence of specific legislation, have a direct operation of its own force in another. It is evident that every legal system confers upon its judges the power to execute the judgements delivered by the national courts. However, this power cannot be said to extend to judgements delivered by foreign courts. Jurisdiction is derived from Law alone and the judges of a particular country will not be deemed to possess the power to enforce the judgements of foreign courts unless specific legislation to that effect is to be found in their legal system. Some systems refuse to grant any sort of effect to a judgement emanating from a foreign court. According to these systems, a local judge is not empowered to take any notice of a foreign judgement and the only solution is to institute new proceedings as though that particular law suit had never formed the subject of a decision. This procedure often involves great hardship and expense; it is the procedure adopted in Belgium and Holland, and French jurisprudence seems to follow a similar view. On the other hand, most of the developed legal systems contain some specific enactment relating to the enforcement of foreign judgements by the local courts.