Act of Parliament · 2020 Revised Edition · 2 parts
Reciprocal Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act 1959
Feedback & supportEnforcing foreign judgments and awards where treatment is reciprocalIn plain English
Not legal adviceThis Act lets judgments and awards from foreign countries be enforced in Singapore if those countries give Singapore judgments similar treatment in return. It also makes it easier to enforce Singapore judgments in foreign countries. It does not apply to a judgment that may be recognised or enforced in Singapore under the Choice of Court Agreements Act 2016.
Summary · Drafted with AI, checked against the official text on 30 Sep 2026.
Part 1
Registration of Foreign Judgments
Official textFrom Singapore Statutes Online, unchanged
s 1Short title
This Act is the Reciprocal Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act 1959.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —
“appeal” includes any proceedings by way of discharging or setting aside a judgment or an application for a new trial or stay of enforcement;
“country” includes a territory;
“country of the original court” means the country in which the original court is situated;
“Family Justice Rules” means the Family Justice Rules made under section 46 of the Family Justice Act 2014;
“foreign country” means any country outside Singapore;
“judgment” means an interlocutory or final judgment or order given or made by a court in any civil proceedings, or a judgment or order given or made by a court in any criminal proceedings for the payment of a sum of money in respect of compensation or damages to an injured party, and includes a consent judgment, a consent order and a judicial settlement;
“judgment creditor” means the person in whose favour the judgment was given (whether or not a sum of money is payable under the judgment), and includes any person in whom the rights under the judgment have become vested by succession or assignment or otherwise;
“judgment debtor” means the person against whom the judgment was given (whether or not a sum of money is payable under the judgment), and includes any person against whom the judgment is enforceable under the law of the original court;
“judicial settlement” —
means a contract approved by, or concluded before, a court in the course of proceedings, being a contract —
between the parties to proceedings before that court;
by which those parties end those proceedings; and
that is recorded by that court in an official document; but(b)does not include a consent order or consent judgment;
“money judgment” means a judgment under which a sum of money is payable, not being a sum payable in respect of taxes or other charges of a similar nature or in respect of a fine or other penalty;
“non‑money judgment” means a judgment that is not a money judgment, but does not include a judgment under which a sum of money is payable in respect of taxes or other charges of a similar nature or in respect of a fine or other penalty;
“original court”, in relation to any judgment, means the court by which the judgment was given;
“prescribed” means prescribed by Rules of Court or Family Justice Rules;
“registration” means registration under Part 1 and “register” and “registered” shall be construed accordingly;
“registering court”, in relation to any judgment, means the court to which an application to register the judgment is made;
“sub-fund” and “VCC” have the meanings given by section 2(1) of the Variable Capital Companies Act 2018.
For the purposes of this Act, “action in personam” shall not be deemed to include any matrimonial cause or any proceedings in connection with any of the following matters:
matrimonial matters;
administration of the estates of deceased persons;
bankruptcy;
winding up of companies, including VCCs and sub-funds of a VCC;
lunacy;
guardianship of infants.
A reference to the making or giving of a judgment, in the case of a judgment that is a judicial settlement, is a reference to the making or concluding of the contract in paragraph (a) of the definition of “judicial settlement” in subsection (1).
Subject to Rules of Court and Family Justice Rules, any of the powers conferred by this Act on any court may be exercised by a judge of the court.
s 2AApplication
This Act does not apply to any judgment which may be recognised or enforced in Singapore under the Choice of Court Agreements Act 2016.
If the Minister is satisfied that, in the event of the benefits conferred by this Part being extended to a particular description of judgments given in a particular court or description of courts of a foreign country, substantial reciprocity of treatment will be assured as respects the enforcement in that foreign country of similar judgments given in a similar court or similar courts of Singapore, the Minister may, by order in the Gazette, direct that —
this Part applies to that foreign country;
the court or courts of the foreign country specified in the order is a recognised court or are recognised courts of the foreign country for the purposes of this Part; and
judgments specified in the order of any such recognised court or courts, if within subsection (2), are judgments to which this Part applies.
A judgment of a recognised court of a foreign country is within this subsection if —
it is given after the coming into operation of the order; and
it is final and conclusive as between the parties to it, unless it is an interlocutory judgment.
A judgment —
specified in an order under subsection (1) of a recognised court of a foreign country specified in the order; and
that is within subsection (2),is a judgment to which this Part applies.
However, the following judgments of a recognised court of a foreign country are not judgments to which this Part applies:
a judgment given by that court on appeal from a court that is not a recognised court;
a judgment or other instrument that is regarded for the purposes of its enforcement as a judgment of that court but which was given or made in another foreign country;
a judgment given by that court in proceedings founded on a judgment of a court in another foreign country and having as their object the enforcement of the second‑mentioned judgment.
For the purposes of this section, a judgment is taken to be final and conclusive even though —
an appeal may be pending against it; or
it may still be subject to appeal,in the courts of the country of the original court.
The Minister may by a subsequent order in the Gazette vary or revoke any order previously made under this section.
A person, being a judgment creditor under a judgment to which this Part applies, may apply to the General Division of the High Court at any time —
within 6 years after the date of the judgment; or
where there have been proceedings by way of appeal against the judgment, after the date of the last judgment given in those proceedings,to have the judgment registered in the General Division of the High Court.
On an application under subsection (1), the court shall, subject to proof of the prescribed matters and to the provisions of this Act, order the judgment to be registered.
A judgment shall not be registered under this section if at the date of the application —
it has been wholly satisfied;
it has been discharged; or
it could not be enforced in the country of the original court.
The registering court —
may only register a non‑money judgment if, having regard to the circumstances of the case and the nature of the relief contained in the judgment, it is satisfied that enforcement of the judgment would be just and convenient; and
if it is of the opinion that such enforcement would not be just and convenient, may make an order for the registration of such amount as it considers to be the monetary equivalent of the relief.
If it appears to the registering court that a money judgment awards damages (including exemplary or punitive damages) that are in excess of compensation for the actual loss or harm suffered by the party awarded the damages, the judgment may only be registered for the amount of the compensation.
In making its decision under subsection (5), the registering court must take into account whether, and the extent to which, the damages awarded by the original court serve to cover costs and expenses relating to the proceedings in which the judgment was obtained.
Subject to the provisions of this Act with respect to the setting aside of registration —
a registered judgment shall, for the purposes of enforcement, be of the same force and effect;
proceedings may be taken on a registered judgment;
the sum for which a judgment is registered shall carry interest; and
the registering court shall have the same control over the enforcement of a registered judgment,as if the judgment had been a judgment originally given in the registering court and entered on the date of registration.
An enforcement order must not be issued to enforce a judgment so long as, under this Part and the Rules of Court or Family Justice Rules made thereunder, it is competent for any party to make an application to have the registration of the judgment set aside or, where such application is made, until after the application has been finally determined.
If at the date of the application for registration the judgment of the original court has been partly satisfied, the judgment shall not be registered in respect of the whole sum payable under the judgment of the original court, but only in respect of the balance remaining payable at the date.
If, on an application for the registration of a judgment, it appears to the registering court that the judgment is in respect of different matters and that some, but not all, of the provisions of the judgment are such that if those provisions had been contained in separate judgments those judgments could properly have been registered, the judgment may be registered in respect of the provisions aforesaid but not in respect of any other provisions contained therein.
In addition to any sum of money payable under the judgment of the original court (including any interest which by the law of the country of the original court becomes due under the judgment up to the time of registration), or the amount of the monetary equivalent of the relief mentioned in subsection (4)(b) (as the case may be), the judgment must be registered for the reasonable costs of and incidental to registration, including the costs of obtaining a certified copy of the judgment from the original court.
On an application in that behalf duly made by any party against whom a registered judgment may be enforced, the registration of the judgment —
shall be set aside if the registering court is satisfied —
that the judgment is not a judgment to which this Part applies or was registered in contravention of sections 3 and 4;
that the courts of the country of the original court had no jurisdiction in the circumstances of the case;
that the judgment debtor, being a defendant in the proceedings in the original court, did not (notwithstanding that process may have been duly served on him in accordance with the law of the country of the original court) receive notice of those proceedings in sufficient time to enable him to defend the proceedings and did not appear;
that the judgment was obtained by fraud;
that the enforcement of the judgment would be contrary to public policy in the country of the registering court; or
that the rights under the judgment are not vested in the person by whom the application for registration was made;
may be set aside if the registering court is satisfied that the matter in dispute in the proceedings in the original court had before the date of the judgment in the original court been the subject of a final and conclusive judgment by a court having jurisdiction in the matter; or
may be set aside if the registering court is satisfied that the notice of registration had not been served on the judgment debtor, or that the notice of registration was defective.
To avoid doubt, subsection (1)(c) does not prevent the subsequent registration of a judgment the registration of which has been previously set aside solely under that provision.
For the purposes of this section, the courts of the country of the original court shall, subject to subsection (4), be deemed to have had jurisdiction —
in the case of a judgment given in an action in personam —
if the judgment debtor, being a defendant in the proceedings in the original court, submitted to the jurisdiction of that court by voluntarily appearing in the proceedings otherwise than for the purpose of —
protecting, or obtaining the release of, property seized or threatened with seizure in the proceedings;
contesting the jurisdiction of that court; or
inviting that court in its discretion not to exercise its jurisdiction in the proceedings;
if the judgment debtor was a claimant, or counterclaimed, in the proceedings in the original court;
if the judgment debtor, being a defendant in the proceedings in the original court, had before the commencement of the proceedings agreed, in respect of the subject matter of the proceedings, to submit to the jurisdiction of that court or of the courts of the country of that court;
if the judgment debtor, being a defendant in the proceedings in the original court, was at the time when the proceedings were instituted resident, or being a body corporate had its principal place of business, in the country of that court; or
if the judgment debtor, being a defendant in the proceedings in the original court, had an office or place of business in the country of that court and the proceedings in that court were in respect of a transaction effected through or at that office or place;
in the case of a judgment given in an action of which the subject matter was immovable property or in an action in rem of which the subject matter was movable property, if the property in question was at the time of the proceedings in the original court situate in the country of that court; and
in the case of a judgment given in an action other than any such action as is mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b), if the jurisdiction of the original court is recognised by the law of the registering court.
Notwithstanding anything in subsection (3), the courts of the country of the original court shall not be deemed to have had jurisdiction —
if the subject matter of the proceedings was immovable property outside the country of the original court;
except in the cases mentioned in subsection (3)(a)(i), (ii) and (iii) and (c), if the bringing of the proceedings in the original court was contrary to an agreement under which the dispute in question was to be settled otherwise than by proceedings in the courts of the country of that court; or
if the judgment debtor, being a defendant in the proceedings in the original court, was a person who under the rules of public international law was entitled to immunity from the jurisdiction of the courts of the country of the original court and did not submit to the jurisdiction of that court.
In this section, “notice of registration” means a notice of the registration of a judgment mentioned in section 8(1)(c) that is required to be served on a judgment debtor by the Rules of Court or Family Justice Rules, as the case may be.
Part 3