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78 The US-Israel Legal Review 2019
US-ISRAEL: INTERNATIONAL JUDGEMENT ENFORCEMENT
jurisdiction over the debtor nor
quasi in rem
jurisdiction over the debtor’s assets, but in 2018
a New York appellate court held that the creditor
must prove jurisdiction if the debtor raises a non-
frivolous basis to oppose recognition.
CAN YOU OUTLINE SOME DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN RECOGNITION AND
ENFORCEMENT UNDER US AND
ISRAELI LAW?
Judgment recognition and enforcement in Israel is
governed by the Foreign Judgments Enforcement
Law – 1958. That law establishes a normative
frameworkbywhichtheIsraelicourtsmayrecognize
a foreign judgment or declare it to be enforceable.
Under the Foreign Judgments Enforcement Law,
a judgment can be enforced if: (1) the judgment
was given by a court which was authorized to do
so; (2) the judgment is no longer appealable; (3)
the judgment does not contradict standing Israeli
law or Israeli public policy; and (4) the judgment is
subject to enforcement in the initial forum.
In addition, Israeli law requires that, for a
foreign judgment to be enforceable, the laws of the
state that rendered the judgment must provide for
the enforcement of Israeli judgments.
See id
. art.
4. Israeli courts have interpreted this reciprocity
requirement narrowly, and require only that the
other jurisdiction generally would enforce Israeli
judgments, and not that the jurisdiction enforces
the specific type of judgment at issue or that there
is specific evidence that the foreign jurisdiction has
enforced Israeli judgments. As explained above,
most US states no longer apply the principle of
reciprocity at all.
The statute of limitations for enforcement
actions generally differs between US and Israeli
law, as explained below.
ON WHAT GROUNDS CAN RECOGNITION
AND ENFORCEMENT BE CHALLENGED?
In theUnited States, a judgment debtor can challenge
an award if it believes it is not final, conclusive, or
enforceable. US courts alsowill not recognize foreign
judgments or awards that violate fundamental
public policies of the United States, such as where
“enforcement would violate the forum state’s most
basic notions of morality and justice.”
See Parsons
& Whittemore Overseas Co v Société Générale de
L’Industrie du Papier
(RAKTA), 508 F.2d 969, 974 (2d
Cir. 1974). Similarly, U.S. courtswill deny recognition
of judgments obtained through fraud or decisions
precluded by arbitration clauses.
As explained above, a judgment debtor also
could raise jurisdictional challenges to the judg-
ment or challenge the jurisdiction of the enforcing
court itself.
As under US law, the Israeli Foreign Judgments
Enforcement Law enumerates several bases for
refusing to recognize a foreign judgment, including
that the judgment was obtained by fraud or was
issued by a court that was not competent to hear
the matter.
See
Foreign Judgments Enforcement
Law art. 6.
WHAT LEGAL FRAMEWORK IS
APPLICABLE TO THE RECOGNITION AND
ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN JUDGEMENTS
RELATING TO SPECIFIC SUBJECT MATTERS?
The typical types of foreign judgments subject to
recognition and enforcement under the general
scheme outlined above include: money judgments
and awards; judgments ordering or prohibiting
the doing of acts or injunctions; declaratory
judgments; default judgments; ex parte awards
and judgments; decisions granting provisional
measures; pre-judgment attachment orders; and
administrative decisions.
Generally, foreign tax and penal judgments will
not be enforced by US courts. This is because tax
and revenue judgments are considered primarily
punitive, rather than compensatory, in character.
The UFMJRA applies only to judgments granting
or denying a sum of money. Thus, other types of
judgments, such as divorce decrees and support
orders in a matrimonial or family matter, fall
outside of its parameters, but can in principle be
enforced under the common law.
WHAT IS THE RELEVANT LIMITATION
PERIOD?
The limitations period under US law to initiate
enforcement proceedings varies depending upon
the jurisdiction. The UFMJRA requires that an
action to recognize a foreign judgment be brought
within the shorter of fifteen years from the date of
the judgment or the period for which the judgment
is valid in the jurisdictionwhere it was issued. Some