Republic of Croatia v Snedden

The Republic of Croatia, the applicant, sought to enforce a judgment obtained in the Republic of Croatia against Mr. Snedden, the respondent, in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned whether the Croatian judgment was enforceable in Australia under the *Foreign Judgments Act 1991* (Cth) and the *Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1962* (NSW). The matter came before the High Court of Australia on appeal from the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The High Court was required to determine whether the Croatian judgment was a "final and conclusive" judgment for the purposes of registration under the relevant legislation. Specifically, the court had to consider whether the Croatian judgment, which was subject to appeal in Croatia, met the criteria of finality and conclusiveness as understood in Australian law for the enforcement of foreign judgments. A further issue was whether the respondent had established any grounds for setting aside the registration of the judgment, such as fraud or a breach of natural justice.

The High Court held that a foreign judgment is considered final and conclusive for the purposes of enforcement legislation if it is not subject to an ordinary right of appeal in the country where it was rendered. The court reasoned that the purpose of the legislation is to facilitate the enforcement of judgments that have achieved a definitive status in their original jurisdiction. As the Croatian judgment was still subject to an ordinary appeal, it was not considered final and conclusive under Australian law. Consequently, the court found that the judgment was not registrable.

The High Court ordered that the appeal be dismissed and that the orders of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Court of Appeal, be affirmed.