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If a creditor previously obtained an out of state judgment, and now wishes to collect it in California, then the judgment must be registered in California courts. A reason for this is that the California Sheriff's Department is only authorized to enforce California judgments.

To register a foreign judgment, one must file a new California lawsuit. If the California court recognizes the decision from the foreign court, it will issue an essentially identical judgment. Therefore, the California court does not have to rehash the substantive issues of the foreign lawsuit.

All foreign judgments must be recognized before they can be enforced. However, in certain circumstances (for example, for the purposes of a res judicata argument), it may be sufficient to recognize a judgment without enforcing it. In order to enforce a judgment, the Canadian court must first recognize it.

At common law, a foreign judgment may be recognised if: it is a final judgment (although this requirement has been waived in certain limited circumstances); it was granted by a court of competent jurisdiction; and. it is of a nature that the principle of comity requires the Canadian court to enforce.

Procedures for enforcement Once a judgment is recognized, the Canadian court will issue a certified copy of the foreign judgment for enforcement. The judgment creditor can then follow the provincial rules to execute the judgment against the debtor's assets as if it were a domestic Canadian judgment.

Unless a defence to recognition and enforcement is shown to exist (as discussed below), a non-Canadian judgment is enforceable where the judgment (a) comes from a court of competent jurisdiction, (b) is final and conclusive and (c) the order is adequately precise.