New law to make local court judgments enforceable in 60 countries – Attorney General
- Home
- News
- The Foreign Judgment (Reciprocal Enforcement) Amendment Bill is expected to be passed at today’s sitting of the National Assembly.
This Bill will make way for decisions from the local courts to be enforceable in at least 60 foreign territories. This is according to Attorney General, Anil Nandlall SC. Speaking on the importance of the bill during a hearing of his weekly social media broadcast ‘Issues in the News’, Nandlall explained that the bill seeks to revamp the 1961 Act.
Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, SC
According to the Attorney General, the Bill will be read for the second time. He noted that once passed, it allows for judgments or court orders from Guyana to be enforceable in some 60 countries globally. “Simply put, this Bill allows judgments from Guyana to be enforced in 60 jurisdictions listed in the schedule,” Nandlall said. “This Bill is very significant to the commercial community. It will inspire investors’ confidence…and will put Guyana in the lead, at least in the CARICOM region,” he added.
Once passed and made law, the Foreign Judgment (Reciprocal Enforcement) Amendment Act which will help Guyana recover repayments from international companies on the successful completion of litigations if no assets are available locally. According to the Attorney General the 60 countries in which the law will be enforceable include those in the English-Speaking Caribbean and Commonwealth as well as major jurisdictions in Europe, Asia, North America and Africa.
He explained that “Litigation is expensive, so if you receive judgment in Guyana, you don’t have to re-litigate if the person flees to another country. You can take your judgment for enforcement in that country,” the Attorney General explained.
According to Nandlall, Guyana took guidance from the Commonwealth model and consulted countries like Singapore and other commercial jurisdictions. “The legislation will allow judgments from one country to be enforced in another country. And once that company has assets in that country, then you recover the proceeds of your judgment in the same way as if the company had assets in the country in which the judgment was granted,” he added.
The Attorney General previously spoke on the issue of having the bill revamped following a judgment Guyana won against a Trinidadian company. Last February, the Attorney General’s chambers revealed that they secured an ex-parte judgment against Trinidadian company, Davis Ecolife Limited.
Trinidadian Company, Davis Ecolife Ltd in an application brought by the National Data Management Authority (NDMA) through the Attorney General’s Chambers. However, the company and its owners had reportedly vanished without honouring its obligations. On the 31st January 2023, NDMA filed an amended Fixed Date Application (FDA) seeking several reliefs including an order for restitution in the sum of $6,159,325, constituting an advance payment made by the claimant to Davis Ecolife Ltd for which there were no works done. The Trinidadian company failed to file an Affidavit in Defence to the application and failed to attend court on two occasions. The Court therefore granted judgment in the sum of $6,159,325.00 and costs in the sum of $500,000 in favour of NDMA.
The NDMA is a body corporate established under the National Data Management Authority Act Cap. 27:13, Laws of Guyana and is responsible for data processing and information systems in the Public Sector.
At that juncture, the Attorney General emphasized that there has been a push to update and modernise several pieces of legislation given Guyana’s economic trajectory due to the booming oil and gas sector.
The matter at reference has to do with the non-delivery of three mobile motion scales bought by the APNU+AFC government for a whopping $72.264 million back in December 2016.
