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Could you please advise if a High Court judgement which has been entered in England against an individual living as a Portuguese resident in Portugal with a valid Portuguese address - and NO English address - for an amount of money supposedly owing, can be correct. The individual has tried to lodge an appeal, from Portugal but the appeal has refused by the UK Appeal Court, unless the individual has an English address. The individual does NOT have an English address. Is this not contradictory that whilst judgement can be entered against an individual with Portuguese address, an Appeal from the individual with a Portuguese address cannot be accepted by the Appeal Court unless the individual has an English address. Does this now make the judgment unenforceable in Portugal and enforceable only in the UK????
Optional Information: Province/Country relating to question : Portugal and UK Already Tried: Nothing
Hello,I will do my best to help you with this.The judgment is valid and enforceable in Portugal but it is not straightforward to enforce it in a foreign jurisdiction. To do so will cost money and take time so whether or not an attempt will be made depends on whether the judgment is for a significant sum of money. Rather than bringing an appeal, the better and more correct route is to make an application to set aside judgment if it is that you say the judgment has been incorrectly entered. The Portuguese resident needs an address for service in the UK, it does not need to be his actual residence but there must be an address here where relevant documents can be served and letters sent. John
Hello Johnthanks for information. The Portuguese resident does not have a UK address, having moved permanently to Portugal 5 years ago.This being the case, surely the judgment is incorrect as it has been notified via a UK solicitor to the resident in Portugal and not to a UK address.Please can you confirm that this judgment was therefore incorrectly served.If the Portuguese resident were to make an application to set the judgment aside, without a UK address, would the application be accepted by the UK Court. If the application was not accepted by the Court for the address reason, then surely this is proof/admission that the initial judgement was incorrectly served. Am I correct???
HiCan you confirm whether the claim and judgment was served in the UK at the outset (presumably at the Portuguese resident's former address)?Thanks
No it was not as the resident has moved to Portugal 5 years ago, has not had a UK address in these 5 years and the judgment was made at the end of last year. This question has arisen because the resident has tried to lodge an appeal which has been rejected because of the UK address situation.
I see. As service has been effected in Portugal and presumably that is the address which was on the claim form, it is sufficient to have an EEA address when making the application to set aside judgment. The Court cannot refuse to accept an app to set aside simply on the basis that the Defendant is in Portugal and has no UK address. The appeal is slightly different and I suspect that the Court has denied the appeal (in reality) because it is clear that it is the wrong application which has been made. I think you will find that if you make an app to set aside, it will not be refused. John
Thank you John. You have been most helpful. Can you just confirm that the judgment has been correctly served. on an address in . Portugal provided to the Court by the other party. Consequently any. app. to set aside issued from Portugal will be accepted.
The claim and then later, judgment, should have been served at the Defendant's usual place of residence or last known address in Portugal. If the wrong address was used, that is a strong argument that the judgment should be set aside. Either way, you can make an application to set aside using the Portuguese address which is on the judgment or using a different address if that different address is the correct address of the Defendant. John
Again many thanks John. As the judgment was served in Portugal, correctly as I understand from you, on what grounds should the application be made?
Can I ask whether the claim form was received? If it was, why was no defence submitted? Further, what is the reason for disputing the claim and judgment now?Thanks
Good day John. No claim form was ever received from the Court. The only notification of judgment was notified when I phoned the Court to find out the result of the Hearing on 20th October 2011. No official notification was received until January 2012 after 2 letters from myself to the Court asking for official written notice. This was received but no claim form. The reason for disputing the case now is as a result of the official written notice. An Appellant notice has been sent to the Court of Appeal which has been sent back stating that a UK address has to be given. Hence my question : if a UK address is needed for an Appeal then surely one should have been required for the judgment.
If the claim form was never received, that will be the basis of your application to set aside judgment. The rule is contained in CPR 13.3, which states as follows:Cases where the court may set aside or vary judgment entered under Part 12
(1) In any other case, the court may set aside(GL) or vary a judgment entered under Part 12 if –
(a) the defendant has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim; or
(b) it appears to the court that there is some other good reason why –
(i) the judgment should be set aside or varied; or
(ii) the defendant should be allowed to defend the claim.
(2) In considering whether to set aside(GL) or vary a judgment entered under Part 12, the matters to which the court must have regard include whether the person seeking to set aside the judgment made an application to do so promptly.
The important provisions here are (1)(b) - "there is some other good reason why.."
The good reason is that the claim form was never received. This is a well known and often used basis for applying to set aside a judgment. Bear in mind that the application must also be made 'promptly' which means as soon as possible but usually by no later than 30 days from finding out about the judgment.
John
Experience: solicitor with 8 years experience