THE DIFFICULTY OF ENFORCING JUDGMENTS
Michael Redman on the challenges of enforcing judgments
Michael Redman of Burford Capital has written an interesting article on the challenges of enforcing judgments, which was published in the October 2015 issue of Litigation Funding (click here).
As far as the Dutch Caribbean (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba) is concerned, the enforcement of a judgment rendered by for instance an English court will be subject to the provisions of the Convention between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland regarding Mutual Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil Cases, 1967, as amended.
In the absence of a treaty, a judgment rendered by a foreign court will not be enforceable within the Dutch Caribbean. However, such a foreign judgment will be recognized by a Dutch Caribbean court if it results from proceedings compatible with Dutch Caribbean concepts of due process, and it does not contravene the public policy of the Dutch Caribbean. Generally, the Dutch Caribbean court will grant the same award without review of the merits of the case. If the judgment is not recognized, the claim must be fully re-litigated in order to obtain a judgment in the Dutch Caribbean.
With respect to arbitral awards it should be mentioned that many countries, including the Dutch Caribbean, are a party to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of New York, 1958, which provides for mutual recognition.
Karel Frielink
(Attorney/Lawyer, Partner)
(13 October 2015)
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