Answer ... Effectively, recognition and enforcement are seen as separate processes. Recognition is the process of seeking to have a foreign judgment recognised or deemed enforceable as such within the Irish jurisdiction; while enforcement is seen as execution of the judgment. Once a foreign judgment has been recognised, it can essentially be enforced in the same way as a judgment of an Irish court.

Answer ... Pursuant to Brussels Recast, a foreign judgment to which the regulation applies is enforceable in Ireland without any declaration of enforceability being required by an Irish court.

With respect to foreign judgments to which the Lugano Convention or the Hague Convention applies, an application must be made in Ireland to have the judgment declared enforceable before it can be enforced. This application is made on an ex parte basis to the master of the High Court (ie, without the party against which the foreign judgment has been obtained being put on notice of the application).

An application to have the foreign judgment recognised pursuant to common law is brought through the summary judgment procedure, whereby a summary summons is issued, following which a motion is brought before the courts to have the judgment recognised. The motion is brought on notice to the judgment debtor, meaning that the judgment debtor may attend court and challenge the application. Furthermore, as the motion is on notice to the judgment debtor, the judgment debtor must be served with the relevant court papers; in this regard, an application may be required to obtain permission from the Irish courts to serve the judgment debtor outside of the jurisdiction prior to proceeding with serving the court papers on the judgment debtor.

As mentioned, once a foreign judgment has been recognised, it can essentially be enforced in the same way as a judgment of an Irish court. This is dealt with in question 7.

Answer ... As mentioned, an application for recognition and enforcement of a foreign judgment pursuant to the Lugano Convention or the Hague Convention is made on an ex parte basis to the master of the High Court. Along with a document setting out the relief sought from the master of the High Court, an affidavit will need to be sworn by or on behalf of the judgment creditor which grounds the application. This affidavit essentially sets out, and where necessary attaches, the necessary proofs (eg, the foreign judgment or order), to enable the requisite order(s) to be made regarding recognition and enforcement of the judgment.

Unlike an application pursuant to the Lugano Convention or the Hague Convention, an application for recognition and enforcement of a foreign judgment pursuant to common law is made on notice to the judgment debtor. In terms of the documents required, a summary summons is first issued against the defendant. This is the originating court document, which essentially sets out details of the claim. Once the summons has issued (ie, been filed), a motion can then issue and the matter is given a return date before the High Court. The documents required for the motion are similar to an application pursuant to the Lugano Convention – that is, a notice setting out the relief sought and a grounding affidavit. However, as the application must be made on notice to the judgment debtor, a separate affidavit is required proving service of the proceedings and motion papers on the judgment debtor. Depending on the location of the judgment debtor, a prior ex parte application to the High Court may be required seeking to serve the judgment debtor outside of the jurisdiction, which application will again require a document setting out the relief sought and an affidavit grounding the application to serve outside of the jurisdiction.

Answer ... It will be necessary to instruct local lawyers to advise on and make the relevant application. It is not possible to estimate in the abstract the total legal fees that might be incurred in a particular case. Along with solicitors’ and barristers’ fees, the fees to be incurred in bringing an application for recognition and enforcement pursuant to the Lugano Convention, the Hague Convention or common law include stamp duty (ie, court fees) on the relevant court documents. With respect to an application pursuant to common law, additional fees may be incurred in relation to serving the court papers on the judgment debtor prior to the application for recognition and enforcement.

Answer ... There is no general requirement for an applicant to provide security for costs. The Irish courts will not require that security be given, unless an application for such an order is successfully made by the respondent. The proofs required on such an application depend on whether the applicant is a company or an individual, where the applicant is domiciled and certain other matters. Article 51 of the Lugano Convention is relevant to any application pursuant to the convention, as it essentially provides that security for costs should not be required on the grounds that the judgment creditor is a foreign national or not domiciled or resident in Ireland.

Answer ... As an application pursuant to the Lugano Convention or the Hague Convention is on an ex parte basis, it should be a relatively straightforward process whereby, once all proofs are in order, the foreign judgment should be recognised and deemed enforceable on the date the application is heard by the court.

With respect to an application pursuant to common law, it will take significantly longer to have the foreign judgment recognised and deemed enforceable, as the application is on notice to the judgment debtor, which must be served with the application papers. There can be significant delays in attempting to serve the judgment debtor where it is domiciled outside of Ireland. Furthermore, once the judgment debtor is served, it can attend court when the application is listed and contest the application; again, this could significantly delay the application, as the court may adjourn the matter on the first date it is listed in order for affidavits to be exchanged between the parties. Therefore, it is not unusual for such an application to take six to nine months, and significantly longer should the application be strongly contested and/or appealed.

Answer ... A judgment creditor can seek an interim order for relevant provisional measures from an Irish court prior to the foreign judgment being recognised and enforced. The granting of such relief is discretionary and, in practice, the Irish court is likely to be very cautious about granting such relief, particularly where such an application for injunctive relief is made on an ex parte basis. Along with a judgment creditor having to meet the requisite test for the granting of injunctive relief, the Irish court will require an undertaking from the judgment creditor to discharge any damages which may result from the granting of such relief. Furthermore, security may be required along with the undertaking.