Under the European Enforcement Orders (EEO) procedure, a judgment creditor in an “uncontested claim” can apply to the Court of Origin within the European Union for an EEO certificate which is automatically enforceable in the European Union, e.g. England and Wales. There is no need to go through the registration of Foreign Judgment process (see below).
“Uncontested Claims” are defined as:
• claims on admission of a consent order approved by the court.
• claims to which the debtor never objected.
• claims where the debtor did not appear after initially objecting.
Once the judgment has been certified as an European Enforcement Orders (EEO) judgment by the Court in charge for the proceedings, the EOP may be lodged at the appropriate UK Court and can be enforced in the same way as a UK Judgment (see below).
Example:
Procedure for Registration of Foreign (European) Judgments in the UK
Contested or foreign Judgments are not automatically enforceable in England and Wales. Its registration is dependent on the English Court being satisfied that particular conditions have been met. However, Judgments of European countries can be registered by a fairly straightforward procedure at the High Court London.
This registration is done by preparing and submitting a pack comprising the following documents:
- Application Notice.
- Witness Statement.
- Draft Order
- Original or certified copy of Foreign Judgment & translation into English
- Original Annex V (Brussels Regulation) certificate obtained from the Spanish Court & translation into English
- Where interest is recoverable on the Foreign Judgment, a written statement confirming the amount of interest that has accrued up to the date of the application; or the rate of interest, the date from which it is recoverable, and the date on which it ceases to accrue
This application is made without notice to the Debtor and an order will be given for the Judgment to be registered. Notice is then given to the Debtor that the Judgment has been registered and that the Debtor has 1 month (or 2 months if the Debtor does not live in England and Wales) in which to apply to set aside the registration but only on very limited grounds under Article 27 of the Brussels Regulation.
Once the registration process has been completed, if the Debtor does not pay, the Foreign Judgment can be enforced in the same way as a UK Judgment (see below).
We charge 20-25 % of the claim value + VAT (if applicable) to take all the steps required to register your Foreign Judgment. In the event that our application is contested, we would provide an additional fee quotation for the additional work required. The initial Court fee is £66.00.
Enforcement of Judgment
There are various options available dependent on the amount of the Judgment and the individual circumstances of the Debtor:
• Attachment of Earnings – part of the Debtor’s earnings are paid by his Employer to the creditor
• Charging Order – debt paid before property sold by debtor or Order of Court
• County Court Bailiff – goods seized and sold to pay debt
• High Court Enforcement Officer (debt over £5,000.00) – goods seized and sold to pay debt
• Order to attend Court for questioning – to find out what assets the debtor has
• Third Party Debt Order – a creditor of the debtor pays you instead of the Debtor
Each process will take about 2-3 months.
Our charges may vary for each of the above but I estimate that they will be in the region of 20-25 % of the claim value plus VAT (if applicable). A Court f applies.
We trust this information is useful and please do pass it on to those who you think this may of interest and relevant to.
