The Uniform Foreign Money-Judgments Recognition Act: A Survey of the Case Law

The Uniform Foreign Money-Judgments Recognition Act\u27s genesis lay in the belief that a state\u27s codification of its rules on the recognition of foreign money-judgments would increase the likelihood that similar judgments rendered by that state would be recognized abroad. The treatment of United States judgments in the courts of foreign nations concerned the Commissioners on Uniform State Laws because United States courts traditionally accord far better treatment to foreign judgments than is accorded United States judgments abroad. The recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, or recognition practice, has long posed special problems because of the vast differences in the various legal systems rendering the judgments. The Uniform Act attempts to resolve such problems as finality, jurisdiction, and due process, while achieving a measure of uniform treatment for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in United States courts. This Note will first consider the confused state of common law recognition practice in the United States. This Note will then examine the Uniform Act in detail, with the discussion centering on the case law decided under the Act. Finally, this Note concludes with some observations on the effectiveness of the Uniform Act to date, and a recommendation that recognition practice become a part of the federal common law, based on the policies underlying the Uniform Act