If you have secured a judgment in the UK in respect of a debt but find that your debtor is now living in Ireland, how do you enforce your debt?
Article 33 of the Brussels I regulation stipulates that any judgment obtained in a member state will be recognised in other member states without any special procedure required.
But how do you enforce your UK judgment in Ireland?
Order 42A of the Rules of the Superior Courts in Ireland provides the procedure which involves making an application to the Master of the High Court in the first instance.
This is an ex parte application (only one party required, there is no need to serve any papers on the debtor at this stage). Your application needs to be supported by an affidavit which shows
- Your UK judgment,
- If the judgment in the UK was obtained by default you will need to demonstrate that the debtor was properly served in the UK with the legal proceedings in the first place,
- Documents that show that the judgment obtained in the UK is enforceable and has been served,
- An Annex V certificate which will be provided by Court officials in the UK.
There are a number of other averments or statements which will need to be in your affidavit including an address in Ireland for the service of documents on the party making the application and the grounds on which the right to enforce the judgment is vested in the party making the application.
Declaration of enforceability
Provided your papers are in order and your application is successful then the Master of the High Court will declare your UK judgement enforceable immediately.
Once this declaration of enforceability is granted it affords the same power to the UK judgment as if it was a judgment made in the High Court in Ireland.
This declaration of enforceability then needs to be served on the debtor along with the Judgment and a Notice of Enforcement.
At this stage the debtor has a period of time within which to appeal the Master’s order which can range from 1 month to 2 months.
Only after this period has expired will the Execution Order in respect of your Judgment issue.
UK Judgment not recognised
A UK or EU judgment will not be recognised in Ireland in only a narrow range of circumstances with the most common situation being where the original proceedings were not correctly served on the debtor.
Should you need any assistance in Ireland with having your UK judgment recognised and enforced in Ireland we are happy to assist-please use the Contact Us form with your query.