A certified copy of the foreign judgment is annexed to the summons. The defendant is given time within which to set out his defence on affidavit. The plaintiff has the right of reply. It is important to note that the defendant is limited in his defences to the points mentioned above regarding the requirements for the enforcement of a foreign judgment. The merits of the case will not be re-examined.
Any judgment granted on the provisional sentence summons is provisional only.
The defendant, if provisional sentence is granted against him, is obliged to pay the amount of the claim awarded by the foreign court and is then entitled to enter into a principal case, which is a trial action at which oral evidence is led. The defendant can only enter into the principal case once he has paid the judgment debt. The plaintiff is then obliged to provide security for the re-payment of the judgment debt to the defendant in the event that the court finally declines to enforce the foreign judgment. Readers may ask why provisional sentence is sought if it is contemplated that there will be a principal case. The answer is simply that a defendant who is ordered provisionally to pay the judgment debt will rarely expend more effort and money in pursuing the principal case in which his defences are limited.