Foreign judgments: Creditors can now take Immediate Action

Whilst before Brexit, judgments obtained within the EU were automatically recognised and could be enforced without taking any prior steps, post Brexit all foreign judgments need to be registered before they can be enforced. This involves a formal application to the High Court with all the costs and time-delay this entails.

In the recent decision In Servis-Terminal LLC v Drelle [2026] UKSC 29 the Supreme Court held that registration of a foreign judgment was not required in order to present a bankruptcy petition. The Supreme Court held that a foreign judgment for a debt, once the judgment is final and conclusive, creates an immediate obligation at common law to pay the relevant sum, independent of any recognition of the judgment.

The Supreme Court found that, in the absence of a statutory definition of  “debt”, the common law has interpreted the term “debt” broadly to mean an obligation to pay money, so that the obligation to pay the sum awarded by a foreign judgment falls within the meaning of a “debt” for the purpose of bankruptcy proceedings.  

The same reasoning will apply to judgments awarded against companies, so that the failure to make payment of a foreign judgment, can constitute evidence of a company’s inability to pay debts as they fall due and form the basis of winding-up petitions. 

Creditors who hold a foreign judgment and who want to enforce their judgment by obtaining a writ and sending in the bailiffs (or rather High Court Enforcement Officers), or by obtaining a charging order over land owned by the judgment debtor, will still need to have their judgment registered. 

The decision will be welcome to those who wish to pursue bankruptcy or winding-up proceedings, as they can now do so without additional costs or delays.