Legality of Foreign Judgments

The article/paper aims to study the binding nature of the foreign judgments i.e. judgments given by the courts in foreign countries and the scope and object of section 13 of C.P.C. Also the project describes the conditions under which the judgments given by any foreign court creates the rule of estoppel or res judicata. A foreign Court is defined as a court situate outside India and not established or continued by the authority of the Central Government.1 And a Foreign Judgment means a judgment of a foreign court.2. In other words, a foreign judgment means adjudication by a foreign court upon a matter before it.3 Thus judgments delivered by courts in England, France, Germany, USA, etc. are foreign judgments. Sections 13 and 14 enact a rule of res judicata in case of foreign judgments. These provisions embody the principle of private international law that a judgment delivered by a foreign court of competent jurisdiction can be enforced by an Indian court and will operate as res judicata between the parties thereto except in the cases mentioned in Section 13. NATURE AND SCOPE OF Sec. 13, C.P.C.: A foreign judgment may operate as res judicata except in the six cases specified in the section 13 and subject to the other conditions mentioned in Sec. 11 of C.P.C. The rules laid down in this section are rules of substantive law and not merely of procedure. The fact that the foreign judgment may fail to show that every separate issue, such as, the status of the contracting parties, or the measure of damages, was separately framed and decided, is irrelevant unless it can be shown that failure brings the case within the purview of one of the exceptions to Section 13.