CHAPTER 388
OF THE
REVISED STATUTES, 1989
1 This Act may be cited as the Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments Act. R.S., c. 388, s. 1.
(a) "court" includes a judge or local judge thereof;
(b) "judgment" means a judgment or order of a court in a civil proceeding, whether given or made before or after the commencement of this Act, whereby a sum of money is made payable or recoverable and includes an award in an arbitration proceeding if the award, under the law in force in the reciprocating state where it was made, has become enforceable in the same manner as a judgment given by a court in that state, but does not include a support order as defined by the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act;
(c) "judgment creditor" means the person by whom the judgment was obtained and includes his executors, administrators, successors and assigns;
(d) "judgment debtor" means the person against whom the judgment was given, and includes any person against whom the judgment is enforceable in the state in which it was given;
(e) "original court" in relation to a judgment means the court by which the judgment was given;
(f) "proceeding" includes any action, suit, cause or matter;
(g) "prothonotary" includes clerk or registrar;
(h) "reciprocating state" means a territorial legal unit in Canada or outside Canada that is declared by the Governor in Council as such for the purposes of this Act;
(i) "registering court" in relation to a judgment means the court in which the judgment is registered under this Act.
(2) All references in this Act to personal service mean actual delivery to the person required to be served personally with the process, notice or other document and include such actual delivery when effected outside the state of the original court. R.S., c. 388, s. 2; 2002, c. 9, s. 60.
3 (1) Where a judgment has been given by an original court in a reciprocating state, the judgment creditor may apply to a court within six years after the date of the judgment to have the judgment registered in that court, and on any such application the court may order the judgment to be registered accordingly.
(2) An order for registration under this Act may be made ex parte in any case in which the judgment debtor
(a) was personally served with process in the original proceeding; or
(b) though not personally served, appeared or defended, or attorned or otherwise submitted to the jurisdiction of the original court,
and in which, under the law in force in the reciprocating state where the judgment was made, the time within which an appeal may be made against the judgment has expired and no appeal is pending or an appeal has been made and has been disposed of.
(3) Where subsection (2) does not apply an order for registration under this Act shall not be granted unless notice of the application for the registration is first given to the judgment debtor in accordance with the rules authorized by Section 9.
(4) Registration may be effected by filing the order and an exemplification or a certified copy of the judgment with the prothonotary of the court in which the order was made, whereupon the judgment shall be entered as a judgment of that court.
(5) No order for registration shall be made if it is shown to the court to which application for registration is made that
(a) the original court acted either
(ii) without authority under the law in force in the reciprocating state where the judgment was made to adjudicate concerning the cause of action or subject-matter that resulted in the alleged judgment or concerning the person of the alleged judgment debtor,
or without such jurisdiction and without such authority;
(b) the judgment debtor, being a person who was neither carrying on business nor ordinarily resident within the jurisdiction of the original court, did not voluntarily appear or otherwise submit during the proceeding to the jurisdiction of that court;
(c) the judgment debtor, being the defendant in the proceeding, was not duly served with the process of the original court and did not appear, notwithstanding that he was ordinarily resident or was carrying on business within the jurisdiction of that court or agreed to submit to the jurisdiction of that court;
(d) the judgment was obtained by fraud;
(e) an appeal is pending or the time within which an appeal may be taken has not expired;
(f) the judgment was in respect of a cause of action that for reasons of public policy or for some similar reason would not have been entertained by the registering court; or
(g) the judgment debtor would have a good defence if a proceeding were brought on the judgment.
(6) Where, on an application for registration of a judgment, it appears to the court that the judgment is in respect of different matters and that some, but not all, of the provisions of the judgment are such that, if they had been contained in a separate judgment, that judgment could properly be registered under this Act, the judgment in respect of which the application is made may be registered in respect of those provisions but not in respect of any other provisions contained therein and the court may determine which of the provisions of the judgment are registerable and which are not.
(7) Where the sum payable under the judgment would have been within the jurisdiction of a county court if a proceeding had been brought therefor in the Province, the application may be made to a county court and in other cases to the Trial Division of the Supreme Court. R.S., c. 388, s. 3.
4 Where a judgment sought to be registered under this Act makes payable a sum of money expressed in a currency other than the currency of Canada, the prothonotary shall determine the equivalent of that sum in the currency of Canada on the basis of the rate of exchange prevailing at the date of the entry of the judgment in the original court, as ascertained from any branch of any chartered bank, and the prothonotary shall certify on the order for registration the sum so determined expressed in the currency of Canada and, upon its registration, the judgment shall be deemed to be a judgment for the sum so certified. R.S., c. 388, s. 4.
5 Where a judgment sought to be registered under this Act is in a language other than the English language, the judgment or the exemplification or certified copy thereof, as the case may be, shall have attached thereto for all purposes of this Act a translation in the English language approved by the court, and upon such approval being given the judgment shall be deemed to be in the English language. R.S., c. 388, s. 5.
6 Where a judgment is registered under this Act,
(a) the judgment, from the date of the registration, is of the same force and effect as if it had been a judgment given or entered originally in the registering court on the date of the registration, and proceedings may be taken thereon accordingly, except that where the registration is made pursuant to an ex parte order, no sale or other disposition of any property of the judgment debtor shall be made under the judgment before the expiration of the period fixed by clause (b) of subsection (1) of Section 7 or such further period as the registering court may order;
(b) the registering court has the same control and jurisdiction over the judgment as it has over judgments given by itself; and
(c) the reasonable costs of and incidental to the registration of the judgment, including the costs of obtaining an exemplification or certified copy thereof from the original court and of the application for registration, are recoverable in like manner as if they were sums payable under the judgment if such costs are taxed by the proper officer of the registering court and his certificate thereof is endorsed on the order for registration. R.S., c. 388, s. 6.
7 (1) Where a judgment is registered pursuant to an ex parte order,
(a) within one month after the registration or within such further period as the registering court may at any time order, notice of the registration shall be served upon the judgment debtor in the same manner as an originating notice is required to be served; and
(b) the judgment debtor, within one month after he has had notice of the registration, may apply to the registering court to have the registration set aside.
(2) On such an application the court may set aside the registration upon any of the grounds mentioned in subsection (5) of Section 3 and upon such terms as the court thinks fit. R.S., c. 388, s. 7.
8 Where the original court is a court in the Province, that court or the prothonotary thereof for the purposes of registration of a judgment in a reciprocating state has authority to issue such documentation as is required. R.S., c. 388, s. 8.
9 (1) The judges of the Supreme Court or a majority of them may make rules respecting the practice and procedure, including costs, in proceedings under this Act.
(2) Until rules are made pursuant to subsection (1), the rules of the registering court, including rules as to costs, apply mutatis mutandis to proceedings under this Act.
(3) Rules made pursuant to subsection (1) shall be rules as defined by the Judicature Act. R.S., c. 388, s. 9.
10 (1) Where the Governor in Council is satisfied that reciprocal provisions will be made by a territorial legal unit in or outside Canada for the enforcement therein of judgments given in the Province, he may by order declare it to be a reciprocating state for the purpose of this Act.
(2) The Governor in Council may revoke any order made under subsection (1), and thereupon the territorial legal unit with respect to which the order was made ceases to be a reciprocating state for the purposes of this Act. R.S., c. 388, s. 10.
11 Nothing in this Act deprives a judgment creditor of the right to bring a proceeding on the original cause of action or for the recovery of the amount of his judgment instead of proceeding under this Act. R.S., c. 388, s. 11.
12 Rules made pursuant to subsection (1) of Section 9 and the exercise by the Governor in Council of the authority conferred by Section 10 shall be regulations within the meaning of the Regulations Act. R.S., c. 388, s. 12.
