12Enforcement of judgments under reciprocal agreement

#### 12 Enforcement of judgments under reciprocal agreement (1) Where: (a) an agreement is in force between Australia and another country that makes provision for the enforcement in that other country of judgments obtained in proceedings in respect of certain causes of action arising under section 10, or in respect of all causes of action arising under that section, and also: (i) makes provision for the enforcement in Australia of judgments obtained in proceedings in respect of causes of action arising under any provision of the law of that country relating to the recovery of sums paid or obtained pursuant to judgments for multiple damages within the meaning of subsection 3(3), whether or not that last‑mentioned provision corresponds to section 10; or (ii) makes provision for the enforcement in Australia of judgments obtained in proceedings in respect of causes of action arising under any provision of the law of that country that corresponds to section 10; and (b) a person has obtained a judgment in a proceeding instituted under a provision of the law of that other country referred to in subparagraph (a)(i) or (ii); the Attorney‑General may, by legislative instrument, make an order declaring that the judgment referred to in paragraph (b), to the extent that it has not been satisfied when the order is made, may be enforced in Australia. (2) Where an order made under subsection (1) in relation to a judgment is in force, the judgment creditor may apply to the Court, at any time within 3 years after the date of the making of the order, to have the judgment registered in the Court. (3) Subject to subsection (4) and to the regulations, the Court shall, on an application under subsection (2) for the registration of a judgment, order the judgment to be registered. (4) A judgment shall not be registered under this section if, at the date of the application for registration of the judgment, the judgment has been wholly satisfied. (5) If, at the date of the application for registration of a judgment under this section, the judgment has been partly satisfied, the judgment shall not be registered in respect of the whole amount payable under the judgment but shall be registered only in respect of the balance remaining payable at that date. (6) Where a judgment is registered under this section, in addition to the amount payable under the judgment, the judgment shall be registered for the reasonable costs of and incidental to registration, including costs of obtaining a certified copy of the judgment from the court in which it was obtained. (7) Subject to subsection (8) and any order of the Court made for the purposes of subsection (11): (a) a judgment registered under this section is, for the purposes of execution, of the same force and effect; (b) proceedings may be taken on such a judgment; and (c) the sum for which such a judgment is registered carries interest; as if the judgment were a final judgment originally given in the Court and entered on the date of registration. (8) Execution shall not issue on a judgment registered under this section so long as, under this section and any Rules of Court, it is competent for any person to make an application to have the registration of the judgment set aside, or, where such an application is made, until after the application has been finally determined. (9) On an application in that behalf duly made to the Court by a person against whom a judgment registered under this section may be enforced, the registration of the judgment shall be set aside if the Court is satisfied that the judgment: (a) is not a judgment in respect of which an order made under subsection (1) is in force; (b) was registered in contravention of this section; (c) has been reversed on appeal or otherwise set aside in the country in which the judgment was obtained; or (d) has, since registration, been wholly satisfied in Australia or in any other country. (9A) The power of the Federal Court of Australia to make Rules of Court extends to making rules in relation to: (a) the fixing of a period within which an application may be made to have the registration of a judgment set aside; and (b) the extension of such a period. (10) If, on an application under subsection (9) in relation to a judgment, the judgment is found to have been partly satisfied in Australia or any other country, the amount for which it is registered in the Court shall be reduced by the amount by which it has been partially satisfied. (11) If, on an application under subsection (9), the Court is satisfied either that an appeal is pending, or that a person is entitled and intends to appeal, against the judgment in the country in which it was obtained, the Court, if it thinks fit, may, on such terms as it thinks just, including terms relating to the suspension of the execution of the judgment, adjourn the application until after the expiration of such period as appears to the Court to be reasonably sufficient to enable the applicant to take the necessary steps to have the appeal disposed of by the relevant tribunal. (12) Where an application under subsection (9) has been adjourned under subsection (11), the Court shall, on the expiration of the period of adjournment, deal with the application. (13) For the purposes of this section, the amount payable under a judgment in a proceeding instituted under a provision of the law of a country other than Australia shall be taken to include any interest that by the law of that country becomes due on the judgment up to the time of the registration of the judgment under this section. (14) In this section, judgment creditor, in relation to a judgment, means the person or persons in whose favour the judgment was given and includes the person or persons in whom the rights under the judgment have become vested by succession, assignment or otherwise.