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28 March 2013 / Georgia Dunphy , Andy Glenie
Issue: 7554 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice
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Kicking off in Kiwi courts?

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Andy Glenie & Georgia Dunphy explain how to go about enforcing your judgment in New Zealand

Many British people will, when they think of New Zealand, picture a distant grassy field dotted with a few large rugby players, the odd little hobbit, and rather too many sheep. British lawyers will know that New Zealand has a legal system very similar to their own, with many inherited statutes and rules of common law. That shared heritage should reassure those who are from time to time called upon to have judgments of their own courts enforced against defendants with assets in New Zealand.

There are three routes by which a foreign judgment can be enforced by the High Court of New Zealand (High Court):

  1. under the Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments Act 1934 (NZ) (the 1934 Act), which was based on the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1933 (UK);
  2. under s 56 of the Judicature Act 1908 (NZ) (the 1908 Act);
  3. at common law.

In addition, foreign arbitral awards may be enforced

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