Jurisdiction of Courts and Enforcement of Judgments (European Communities) Act, 1988
Acts of the Oireachtas
Source: Acts of the Oireachtas

num: 1
paragraphs: —(1) In this Act—
“the 1978 Accession Convention” means the Convention on the accession to the 1968 Convention and the 1971 Protocol of the State, Denmark and the United Kingdom, signed at Luxembourg on the 9th day of October, 1978;
“the 1982 Accession Convention” means the Convention on the accession to the 1968 Convention and the 1971 Protocol (as amended in each case by the 1978 Accession Convention) of the Hellenic Republic, signed at Luxembourg on the 25th day of October, 1982;
“Contracting State” means—
(a) one of the original parties to the 1968 Convention (Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands), or
(b) one of the parties acceding to the 1968 Convention under the 1978 Accession Convention or the 1982 Accession Convention (the State, Denmark, the United Kingdom and the Hellenic Republic),
being a state in respect of which the 1978 Accession Convention has entered into force in accordance with Article 39 of that Convention or, as may be appropriate, the 1982 Accession Convention has entered into force in accordance with Article 15 of that Convention, and, where the context so allows, “Contracting State” shall be construed so as to enable this Act to have effect as respects the places as respects which the 1968 Convention has effect by virtue of Article 60;
“the 1968 Convention” means the Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (including the Protocol annexed to that Convention), signed at Brussels on the 27th day of September, 1968;
“the Conventions” means the 1968 Convention, the 1971 Protocol, the 1978 Accession Convention and, on and from the commencement of section 3 of this Act, in so far as it relates to the 1982 Accession Convention, the 1982 Accession Convention;
“court” includes a tribunal;
“enforcement order” means—
(a) an order made by the Master of the High Court under section 5 of this Act for the recognition or enforcement of the whole or part of a judgment, or
(b) an order of the High Court for the recognition or enforcement of the whole or part of an instrument or settlement referred to in Title IV of the 1968 Convention,
and includes an enforcement order made or varied on appeal from a decision of the Master of the High Court or a decision of the High Court;
“the European Communities” has the same meaning as in section 1 of the European Communities Act, 1972 ;
“the European Court” means the Court of Justice of the European Communities;
“judgment”, except in section 2 of this Act but subject to section 6 of this Act, means a judgment or order to which, by virtue of the said section 2 , this Act applies;
“maintenance creditor” means, in relation to a maintenance order, the person entitled to the payments for which the order provides;
“maintenance debtor” means, in relation to a maintenance order, the person liable to make payments under the order;
“maintenance order” means, subject to section 6 of this Act, a judgment that is a judgment relating to maintenance (within the meaning of the 1968 Convention) in so far, but only in so far, as it provides for the making of periodic payments;
“the Minister” means the Minister for Justice;
“non-contracting state” means any state, country or territory other than a Contracting State;
“the 1971 Protocol” means the Protocol on the interpretation of the 1968 Convention by the European Court, signed at Luxembourg on the 3rd day of June, 1971.
(2) A document purporting to be a copy of a judgment given by a court of a Contracting State shall, for the purposes of this Act, be regarded as being duly authenticated if it purports—
(a) to bear the seal of that court, or
(b) to be certified by a person in his capacity as a judge or officer of that court to be a true copy of a judgment given by that court.
(3) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
(a) references to, or to any provision of, the 1968 Convention or the 1971 Protocol are references to the 1968 Convention, the 1971 Protocol or the provision, as the case may be, as amended by—
(i) the 1978 Accession Convention, and
(ii) after the commencement of section 3 of this Act, in so far as it relates to the 1982 Accession Convention, the 1982 Accession Convention,
(b) any reference to a numbered Article is, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference to the Article so numbered of the 1968 Convention and any reference to a subdivision of a numbered Article shall be construed accordingly.
(4) (a) The Minister for Foreign Affairs may by order declare—
(i) that any state specified in the order is a Contracting State, or
(ii) that a declaration (the text of which shall be set out in the order) has been made pursuant to Article 60 or Article IV, or a communication (the text of which shall be set out in the order) has been made pursuant to Article VI, to the Secretary-General of the Council of the European Communities.
(b) An order that is in force under this subsection shall be evidence—
(i) as respects any declaration under paragraph (a) (i) therein, that any state to which the declaration relates is a Contracting State, and
(ii) as respects any declaration under paragraph (a) (ii) therein, that the declaration pursuant to Article 60 or Article IV, or, as the case may be, the communication pursuant to Article VI, to which the first mentioned declaration relates was made and of its contents.
(c) The Minister for Foreign Affairs may by order amend or revoke an order under this subsection including an order under this paragraph.
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paragraphs: —This Act applies to any judgment or order (by whatever name called) that is a judgment for the purposes of the 1968 Convention.
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paragraphs: —(1) The Conventions shall have the force of law in the State and judicial notice shall be taken of them.
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paragraphs: —(1) Judicial notice shall be taken of—
(a) any ruling or decision of, or expression of opinion by, the European Court on any question as to the meaning or effect of any provision of the Conventions, and
(b) the reports specified in subsection (2) of this section.
(2) The following reports (which are reproduced in the Official Journal of the European Communities), namely—
(a) the reports by Mr. P. Jenard on the 1968 Convention and the 1971 Protocol1 ,
(b) the report by Professor Peter Schlosser on the 1978 Accession Convention2 , and
(c) the report by Professor Demetrios Evrigenis and Professor K. D. Kerameus on the accession of the Hellenic Republic to the 1968 Convention and the 1971 Protocol3 ,
may be considered by any court when interpreting any provision of the Conventions and shall be given such weight as is appropriate in the circumstances.
1 OJ No. C59 of 5.3.1979, p.1
2 OJ No. C59 of 5.3.1979, p.71.
3 OJ No. C298 of 24.11.1986, p.1.
num: 5
paragraphs: —An application under Article 31 for the recognition or enforcement in the State of a judgment shall be made to the Master of the High Court and shall be determined by him by order (including an order for the recognition or enforcement of a judgment in part only) in accordance with the Conventions.
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paragraphs: —(1) Subject to section 8 (4) of this Act and to the restriction on enforcement contained in Article 39—
(a) a judgment, other than a maintenance order, in respect of which an enforcement order has been made, shall, to the extent to which the enforcement of the judgment is authorised by the enforcement order, be of the same force and effect, and
(b) for or as respects the enforcement of the judgment, the High Court shall have the same powers, and proceedings may be taken,
as if the judgment was a judgment of the High Court.
(2) (a) The Master of the High Court may, on application to him in that behalf by the maintenance creditor, by order declare that sums which were payable under an enforceable maintenance order, but were not paid, before the date of the making of the relevant enforcement order shall be regarded as being payable under a judgment referred to in subsection (1) of this section.
(b) The Master of the High Court shall not make a declaration under paragraph (a) of this subsection unless he considers that by so doing the enforceable maintenance order concerned would be more effectively enforced as respects the sums concerned.
(c) Whenever the Master of the High Court makes a declaration under paragraph (a) of this subsection, the sums to which it relates shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be payable under a judgment referred to in the said subsection (1) and not otherwise.
(3) In this section “judgment” includes an instrument or settlement referred to in Title IV of the 1968 Convention.
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paragraphs: —(1) In this section “enforceable maintenance order” means—
(a) a maintenance order as regards the enforcement of the whole of which an enforcement order has been made, or
(b) in case an enforcement order has been made for the enforcement of a maintenance order in part only, the maintenance order to the extent to which it is so ordered to be enforced.
(2) (a) Subject to section 8 (4) of this Act and to the restriction on enforcement contained in Article 39, the District Court shall have jurisdiction to enforce an enforceable maintenance order and—
(i) for that purpose,
(ii) for the purposes of section 98 (1) of the Defence Act, 1954 , and
(iii) subject to the 1968 Convention, for the purpose of the variation or revocation of such an order under section 5 of the Illegitimate Children (Affiliation Orders) Act, 1930 , or section 6 of the Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act, 1976 ,
such an order shall, from the date on which the maintenance order was made, be deemed to be an order made by the District Court under section 3 of the said Illegitimate Children (Affiliation Orders) Act, 1930 , or section 5 of the said Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act, 1976 , as may be appropriate.
(b) Paragraph (a) of this subsection shall have effect notwithstanding that any amount payable under the order concerned exceeds the maximum amount which the District Court has jurisdiction to award under the appropriate enactment mentioned in that paragraph.
(3) Where an enforceable maintenance order is varied by a court in a Contracting State other than the State and an enforcement order has been made as regards the whole or part of the enforceable maintenance order as so varied or as regards the whole or part of the order effecting the variation, as the case may be, the enforceable maintenance order shall, from the date on which the variation takes effect, be enforceable in the State only as so varied.
(4) Where an enforceable maintenance order is revoked by a court in a Contracting State other than the State and an enforcement order has been made as regards the order effecting the revocation, the enforceable maintenance order shall, from the date on which the revocation takes effect, cease to be enforceable in the State except in relation to any sums under the order which were payable, but were not paid, on or before that date.
(5) In the case of an enforceable maintenance order—
(a) any sums which were payable thereunder, but were not paid, before the date of the making of the relevant enforcement order, and
(b) any costs of or incidental to the application for the said enforcement order payable by virtue of section 8 (2) of this Act,
shall, subject to section 6 (2) of this Act, be regarded as being payable by virtue of an order made under section 3 of the Illegitimate Children (Affiliation Orders) Act, 1930 , or section 5 of the Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act, 1976 , as may be appropriate.
(6) The jurisdiction vested in the District Court by this section shall be exercised by the justice of the District Court for the time being assigned to the district court district in which the maintenance debtor under the enforceable maintenance order concerned resides.
(7) (a) Any sum payable by virtue of an enforceable maintenance order shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary therein, be paid by the maintenance debtor concerned to the court clerk for the district court area in which the maintenance debtor for the time being resides for transmission to the maintenance creditor or, where a public authority has been authorised by the maintenance creditor to receive such sum, to that authority.
(b) If any sum payable by virtue of an enforceable maintenance order is not duly paid and if the maintenance creditor concerned so requests in writing, the district court clerk concerned shall make an application under section 10 (which relates to the attachment of certain earnings) of the Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act, 1976 , or section 8 (which relates to the enforcement of certain maintenance orders) of the Enforcement of Court Orders Act, 1940 , in respect of the sum and, for that purpose, the references in the said section 8 (other than subsections (4) and (5)) to the applicant shall be construed as references to the district court clerk.
(c) Nothing in this subsection shall affect the right of a maintenance creditor to institute proceedings for the recovery of any sum payable to a district court clerk under paragraph (a) of this subsection.
(8) Section 8 (7) of the Enforcement of Court Orders Act, 1940 , shall not apply to proceedings for the enforcement of an enforceable maintenance order.
(9) A maintenance debtor under an enforceable maintenance order shall give notice to the district court clerk for the district court area in which he has been residing of any change of his address and, if he fails without reasonable cause to do so, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500.
(10) In this section a reference to a district court clerk shall, where there are two or more district court clerks for the district court area concerned, be construed as a reference to any of those clerks.
(11) For the purposes of this section, the Dublin Metropolitan District shall be deemed to be a district court area.
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paragraphs: —(1) Where, on an application for an enforcement order, it is shown—
(a) that the relevant judgment provides for the payment of a sum of money, and
(b) that, in accordance with the law of the Contracting State in which the judgment was given, interest on that sum is recoverable under the judgment at a particular rate or rates and from a particular date or time,
the order, if made, shall provide that the person by whom the sum aforesaid is payable shall also be liable to pay the interest aforesaid, apart from any interest on costs recoverable by virtue of subsection (2) of this section, in accordance with the particulars noted in the order, and the amount of the interest shall be recoverable by the applicant concerned as if it was part of the sum aforesaid.
(2) An enforcement order may, at the discretion of the court concerned or the Master of the High Court, as may be appropriate, provide for the payment to the applicant concerned by the respondent concerned of the reasonable costs of or incidental to the application for the order.
(3) A person by whom costs recoverable by virtue of subsection (2) of this section are payable shall be liable to pay interest on the costs as if they were the subject of an order for the payment of costs made by the High Court on the date of the making of the relevant enforcement order.
(4) Interest shall be payable on a sum referred to in subsection (1) of this section only as provided for by this section.
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paragraphs: —(1) An amount payable in the State under a maintenance order by virtue of an enforcement order shall be paid in the currency of the State and, if the amount is stated in the maintenance order in a currency other than the currency of the State, the payment shall be made on the basis of the exchange rate prevailing, on the date of the making of the enforcement order, between that currency and the currency of the State.
(2) For the purposes of this section, a certificate purporting to be signed by an officer of a bank in the State and to state the exchange rate prevailing on a specified date between a specified currency and the currency of the State shall be admissible as evidence of the facts stated in the certificate.
(3) In this section “bank” means the holder of a banker's licence within the meaning of the Central Bank Act, 1971 .
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paragraphs: —(1) For the purposes of the Conventions—
(a) a document, duly authenticated, which purports to be a copy of a judgment given by a court of a Contracting State other than the State shall without further proof be deemed to be a true copy of the judgment, unless the contrary is shown; and
(b) the original or a copy of any such document as is mentioned in Article 46.2 or 47 shall be admissible as evidence of any matter to which it relates.
(2) A document which—
(a) purports to be a translation of a judgment given by a court of a Contracting State other than the State or of a document mentioned in Article 46.2, 47 or 50 or containing a settlement referred to in Article 51, and
(b) is certified as correct by a person competent to do so,
shall be admissible as evidence of the translation.
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paragraphs: —(1) Where—
(a) proceedings have been commenced or are to be commenced in a Contracting State other than the State, and
(b) they are or will be proceedings whose subject-matter is within the scope of the 1968 Convention as determined by Article 1 (whether or not the 1968 Convention has effect in relation to the proceedings),
the High Court may, on application to it pursuant to Article 24, grant provisional, including protective, measures of any kind that the Court has power to grant in proceedings that, apart from this Act, are within its jurisdiction.
(2) On an application under subsection (1) of this section, the High Court may refuse to grant the measures sought if, in the opinion of that Court, the fact that that Court has not jurisdiction, apart from this section, in relation to the subject-matter of the proceedings in question makes it inexpedient for that Court to grant such measures.
(3) Subject to Article 39, an application to the Master of the High Court for the enforcement of a judgment and an application to the High Court for the enforcement of an instrument or settlement referred to in Title IV of the 1968 Convention may include an application for the granting of such protective measures as the High Court has power to grant in proceedings that, apart from this Act, are within its jurisdiction and, where an enforcement order is made in relation to a judgment or such an instrument or settlement, the order shall include a provision granting any such protective measures as aforesaid as are applied for as aforesaid.
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paragraphs: —As respects a judgment given by a court in the State, the registrar or clerk of the court shall, at the request of an interested party and subject to any conditions that may be specified by rules of court, give to the interested party—
(a) a copy of the judgment duly authenticated,
(b) a certificate signed by the registrar or clerk of the court stating—
(i) the nature of the proceedings,
(ii) the grounds, pursuant to the 1968 Convention, on which the court assumed jurisdiction,
(iii) the date on which the time for the lodging of an appeal against the judgment will expire or, if it has expired, the date on which it expired,
(iv) whether notice of appeal against, or, in any case where the defendant does not appear, a notice to set aside, the judgment has been entered,
(v) where the judgment is for the payment of a sum of money, the rate of interest, if any, payable on the sum and the date from which interest is payable, and
(vi) such other particulars (if any) as may be specified by rules of court,
and
(c) in case the judgment was given in default of appearance, the original or a copy, certified by the registrar or clerk of the court to be a true copy, of a document establishing that notice of the institution of proceedings was served on the person in default.
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paragraphs: —(1) Subject to Article 52, Part I of the Fifth Schedule to this Act shall apply in relation to the text in the English language of the 1968 Convention, and Part II of the said Fifth Schedule shall apply in relation to the text in the Irish language of the 1968 Convention, in order to determine for the purposes of the 1968 Convention and this Act whether an individual is domiciled in the State, in a place in the State or in a state other than a Contracting State.
num: 14
paragraphs: —(1) Subject to Title II of the Convention, the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court as respects proceedings that may be instituted in the State by virtue of Article 2, 8.1, 11 or 14 shall, where, apart from this subsection, that jurisdiction would be determined by reference to the place where the defendant or one of the defendants resides or carries on business, be exercised by the judge of the Circuit Court for the time being assigned to the circuit where the defendant or one of the defendants ordinarily resides or carries on any profession, business or occupation.
(2) The jurisdiction of the Circuit Court and the District Court as respects proceedings that may be instituted in the State by virtue of Article 14 by a plaintiff domiciled in the State may be exercised as follows:
(i) in the case of the Circuit Court, by the judge of the Circuit Court for the time being assigned to the circuit where the plaintiff or one of the plaintiffs ordinarily resides or carries on any profession, business or occupation, or
(ii) in the case of the District Court, by the justice of the District Court for the time being assigned to the district court district in which the plaintiff or one of the plaintiffs ordinarily resides or carries on any profession, business or occupation.
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paragraphs: —(1) This Act may be cited as the Jurisdiction of Courts and Enforcement of Judgments (European Communities) Act, 1988.
(2) The Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Acts, 1961 to 1986, and sections 5 to 8 , and 11 , 12 and 14 of this Act shall be construed together as one.
(3) (a) This Act, other than section 3 in so far as it relates to the 1982 Accession Convention, shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister shall fix by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so fixed for different purposes and different provisions.
(b) Section 3 of this Act shall, in so far as it relates to the 1982 Accession Convention, come into operation on such day or days as the Minister shall fix by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so fixed for different purposes and different provisions and any day so fixed may be the same day as a day fixed under paragraph (a) of this subsection or a different day.