Acteon Middle East Fze t/as Team Energy Dubai v Smith

In the matter of Acteon Middle East Fze trading as Team Energy Dubai v Smith, the applicant, Acteon, sought to register a judgment obtained against the respondent in the Norwich County Court in England, in the Supreme Court of Queensland. Acteon applied under the Foreign Judgments Act 1991 (Cth) to have the judgment registered and enforced in Australia. The primary legal issues before the court were whether the default judgment from the Norwich County Court was final and conclusive for the purposes of the Act, and whether the judgment should be registered in Australian currency or the currency in which it was expressed, being British Pounds. The court found that the judgment was indeed final and conclusive, as it would be for the purposes of the doctrine of res judicata. The court further held that, despite the absence of evidence regarding the rate of exchange prevailing on the conversion day, the judgment should be registered in Australian currency. The court reasoned that the Foreign Judgments Act 1991 (Cth) is concerned with mechanisms for the enforcement of a judgment and, given that Australian judgments obtained by default are intended to be enforceable, it is likely that no narrower approach should be taken to the question of finality for the purposes of the Act than is taken for the purposes of the doctrine of res judicata.

The court ordered that the judgment of the Norwich County Court of England, dated 1 August 2012, be registered under Part 2 of the Foreign Judgments Act 1991 (Cth). The judgment ordered the respondent to pay £9,375.53 plus interest at the rate of 8% per annum calculated from the date of registration to the date of payment to the applicant. The respondent was also ordered to pay the reasonable costs of and incidental to registration, fixed at $3,479.75 AUD. The respondent was given the right to apply to have the registration set aside within 14 days of being served the notice of registration, under s 7 of the Foreign Judgments Act 1991 (Cth).