CHAPTER 96

An Act concerning foreign country money-judgments and supplementing Title 2A of the New Jersey Statutes.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

C.2A:49A-16 Short title.

    1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Foreign Country Money-Judgments Recognition Act."

C.2A:49A-17 Definitions relative to foreign country money judgements.

    2. As used in this act:

    "Foreign state" means any governmental unit other than the United States, or any state, district, commonwealth, territory or insular possession thereof;

    "Foreign country money-judgment" means any judgment of a foreign state granting or denying recovery of a sum of money, other than a judgment for taxes, a fine or other penalty, or a judgment for support in matrimonial or family matters.

C.2A:49A-18 Application of act.

    3. This act applies to any foreign country money-judgment that is final and conclusive and enforceable where rendered even though an appeal from it is pending or it is subject to appeal.

C.2A:49A-19 Conclusiveness of judgements under the act.

    4. Except as provided in section 5 of this act, a foreign country money-judgment meeting the requirements of section 3 of this act is conclusive between the parties to the extent that it grants or denies recovery of a sum of money. The foreign country money-judgment is enforceable in the same manner as the judgment of a sister state which is entitled to full faith and credit.

C.2A:49A-20 Nonconclusiveness of judgments, condition.

    5. a. A foreign country money-judgment is not conclusive if:

    (1) the judgment was rendered under a system which does not provide impartial tribunals or procedures compatible with the requirements of due process of law;

    (2) the foreign country court did not have personal jurisdiction over the judgment debtor; or

    (3) the foreign country court did not have jurisdiction over the subject matter.

    b. A foreign country money-judgment need not be recognized if:

    (1) the judgment debtor in the proceedings in the foreign country court did not receive notice of the proceedings in sufficient time to enable the judgment debtor to defend;

    (2) the judgment was obtained by fraud;

    (3) the cause of action on which the foreign judgment is based is contrary to the public policy of this State;

    (4) the judgment conflicts with a prior final and conclusive judgment;

    (5) the proceedings in the foreign country court were contrary to an agreement between the parties under which the dispute in question was to be settled, other than by proceedings in that court; or

    (6) in the case of jurisdiction based only on personal service, the foreign country court was a seriously inconvenient forum for the trial of the action.

C.2A:49A-21 Recognition of judgments, conditions.

    6. a. The foreign country money-judgment shall not be refused recognition for lack of personal jurisdiction if:

    (1) the judgment debtor was served personally in the foreign state;

    (2) the judgment debtor voluntarily appeared in the proceedings, other than for the purpose of protecting property seized or threatened with seizure in the proceedings or of contesting the jurisdiction of the court over the judgment debtor;

    (3) the judgment debtor prior to the commencement of the proceedings had agreed expressly in writing to submit to the jurisdiction of the foreign country court with respect to the subject matter involved;

    (4) the judgment debtor was domiciled in the foreign state when the proceedings were instituted, or being a body corporate, had its principal place of business or had otherwise acquired corporate status in the foreign state;

    (5) the judgment debtor had a business office in the foreign state and the proceedings in the foreign country court involved a cause of action arising out of business done by the judgment debtor through that office in the foreign state; or

    (6) the judgment debtor operated a motor vehicle or airplane in the foreign state and the proceedings involved a cause of action arising out of that operation.

    b. The courts of this State may recognize other bases of personal jurisdiction.

C.2A:49A-22 Stay of proceedings; conditions.

    7. If the judgment debtor satisfies the court that an appeal from the foreign country money- judgment is pending or that the judgment debtor is entitled and intends to appeal from the foreign country money-judgment, or that a stay of execution has been granted, the court may stay the proceedings until the appeal has been determined or until the expiration of a period of time sufficient to enable the judgment debtor to prosecute the appeal.

C.2A:49A-23 Other recognition of judgment not prohibited.

    8. This act does not prevent the recognition of a foreign country money-judgment in situations not covered by this act.

C.2A:49A-24 Uniformity of other states' laws.

    9. This act shall be so construed as to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law of those states which enact it.

    10. This act shall take effect immediately.

    Approved May 8, 1997.