Regie National Des Usines Renault SA & Anor v Zhang

The High Court of Australia considered an appeal by Regie National Des Usines Renault SA and another party (the appellants) against a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned the enforceability of a foreign judgment obtained in France against Mr. Zhang, an Australian resident. The appellants sought to enforce the French judgment in Australia, but Mr. Zhang argued that the judgment was not enforceable due to alleged procedural irregularities and a lack of proper service of process in the French proceedings.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the French judgment was a "final and conclusive" judgment for the purposes of the *Foreign Judgments Act 1991* (Cth) and, consequently, whether it was enforceable in Australia. This required the Court to determine if the French proceedings had been conducted in a manner that accorded with fundamental principles of natural justice, particularly concerning the adequacy of notice and opportunity to be heard afforded to Mr. Zhang.

Gaudron and Kirby JJ held that the French judgment was not enforceable in Australia. Their Honours reasoned that the service of the originating process in the French proceedings was defective and did not provide Mr. Zhang with adequate notice of the proceedings or a sufficient opportunity to defend himself. This failure to provide proper notice meant that the French judgment was not "final and conclusive" in a manner that would attract recognition and enforcement under Australian law, as it did not satisfy the requirements of natural justice. The Court emphasised that for a foreign judgment to be recognised and enforced, the foreign court must have had jurisdiction and the proceedings must have been conducted fairly.