An Act to amend the law with respect to the administration of justice; to facilitate the reciprocal enforcement of judgments and awards in the State of New South Wales and in the United Kingdom and other parts of His Majesty’s dominions or territories under His Majesty’s protection; to amend the Common Law Procedure Act 1899, the Supreme Court Procedure Act 1900, the Inter-state Debts Recovery Act 1901, the Interpleader Act 1901, the District Courts Act 1912 and certain other Acts; to repeal the Interest on Judgments Amendment Act 1900; and for purposes connected therewith.

Part 1 Preliminary

1   Name of Act

This Act may be cited as the Administration of Justice Act 1924.

2   (Repealed)

Part 2 Reciprocal enforcement of judgments in New South Wales and in other parts of His Majesty’s dominions

3   Interpretation

(1)  In this Part of this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

Judgment means any judgment or order given or made by a court in any civil proceedings, whether before or after the passing of this Act, whereby any sum of money is made payable, and includes an award in proceedings on an arbitration (other than a foreign award enforceable by virtue of Part 7 of the Commercial Arbitration Act 1984) if the award has, in pursuance of the law in force in the place where it was made, become enforceable in the same manner as a judgment given by a court in that place.

Judgment creditor means the person by whom the judgment was obtained, and includes the successors and assigns of that person.

Judgment debtor means the person against whom the judgment was given, and includes any person against whom the judgment is enforceable in the place where it was given.

Supreme Court means the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

Original court, in relation to any judgment, means the court by which the judgment was given.

United Kingdom does not include the Irish Free State but does include Northern Ireland.

(2)  (Repealed)

3A   Restrictions on operation of this Part: Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1973

(1)  Where an order is made directing that Part 2 of the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1973 shall apply to a Commonwealth country to which Part 2 of this Act applied immediately before the coming into operation of the order, this Part shall cease to apply to that country upon the coming into operation of the order.

(2)  After the commencement of the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1973, no proclamations shall be made under this Act applying this Part to any Commonwealth country.

(3)  In this section Commonwealth country has the meaning ascribed to that expression in subsection (1) of section 4 of the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1973.

4   Application of this Part

(1)  This Part applies with respect to:

(a)  the United Kingdom,

(b)  any other part of His Majesty’s dominions with respect to which this Part is applied under this section,

(c)  any territory with respect to which this Part is applied under this section.

(2)  Where the Governor is satisfied that reciprocal provisions have been made by the legislature of any part of His Majesty’s dominions other than the United Kingdom for the enforcement within that part of His Majesty’s dominions of judgments obtained in the Supreme Court, the Governor may, by proclamation, declare that this Part shall apply with respect to that part of His Majesty’s dominions, and on any such proclamation this Part shall apply accordingly.

(3)  The Governor may, by proclamation, declare that this Part shall apply with respect to any territory which is under His Majesty’s protection, or in respect of which a mandate is being exercised by the Government of any part of His Majesty’s dominions, as if that territory were part of His Majesty’s dominions, and on the making of any such proclamation this Part shall, subject to the provisions of the proclamation, apply accordingly.

(4)  The Governor may, by proclamation, revoke or vary any proclamation made under this section.

(5)  A copy of the Gazette purporting to contain a copy of a proclamation under this section shall be conclusive evidence of the validity, contents, making and publication of such proclamation, and of the fulfilment of all conditions precedent to the valid making thereof.

(6)  Nothing in this section shall authorise the Governor to declare that this Part shall apply with respect to:

(a)  any part of His Majesty’s dominions within the Commonwealth of Australia,

(b)  any territory in respect of which a mandate is being exercised by the Commonwealth of Australia.

Editorial note. For proclamations under this section, see the Historical notes at the end of this Act.

5   Enforcement in New South Wales of judgments obtained in superior courts of other British dominions

(1)  Where a judgment has been obtained in a superior court in any part of His Majesty’s dominions with respect to which this Part applies, the judgment creditor may apply to the Supreme Court at any time within twelve months after the date of the judgment or such longer period as may be allowed by the court, to have the judgment registered in the court, and on any such application the court may, if in all the circumstances of the case the court thinks it is just and convenient that the judgment should be enforced in New South Wales, and subject to the provisions of this section, order the judgment to be registered accordingly.

(2)  No judgment shall be ordered to be registered under this section if:

(a)  the original court acted without jurisdiction, or

(b)  the judgment debtor, being a person who was neither carrying on business nor ordinarily resident within the jurisdiction of the original court, did not voluntarily appear or otherwise submit or agree to submit to the jurisdiction of that court, or

(c)  the judgment debtor, being the defendant in the proceedings, was not duly served with the process of the original court and did not appear, notwithstanding that the judgment debtor was ordinarily resident or was carrying on business within the jurisdiction of that court or agreed to submit to the jurisdiction of that court, or

(d)  the judgment was obtained by fraud, or

(e)  the judgment debtor satisfies the Supreme Court either that an appeal is pending or that the judgment debtor is entitled and intends to appeal against the judgment, or

(f)  the judgment was in respect of a cause of action which for reasons of public policy or for some other similar reason could not have been entertained by the Supreme Court.

(3)  Where a judgment is registered under this section:

(a)  the judgment shall, as from the date of registration, be of the same force and effect and proceedings may be taken thereon as if it had been a judgment originally obtained or entered on the date of registration in the Supreme Court,

(b)  the Supreme Court shall have the same control and jurisdiction over the judgment as it has over similar judgments given by itself, but in so far only as relates to execution under this section,

(c)  the reasonable costs of and incidental to the registration of the judgment (including the costs of obtaining a certified copy thereof from the original court and of the application for registration) shall be recoverable in like manner as if they were sums payable under the judgment.

(4)  In paragraph (c) of subsection (3) a certified copy of the judgment means a copy:

(a)  proved to be an examined copy of the judgment, or

(b)  sealed with the seal of the original court, or

(c)  signed by a judge of the original court with a statement in writing attached by the judge to the judge’s signature on the copy that he or she is such judge and that the court has no seal.

(5)  Rules of court shall provide:

(a)  for service on the judgment debtor of notice of the registration of a judgment under this section, and

(b)  for enabling the Supreme Court, on an application by the judgment debtor, to set aside the registration of a judgment under this section on such terms as the court thinks fit, and

(c)  for suspending the execution of a judgment registered under this section until the expiration of the period during which the judgment debtor may apply to have the registration set aside.

(6)  In any action in any court in New South Wales on any judgment which might be ordered to be registered under this section, the plaintiff shall not be entitled to recover any costs of the action unless an application to register the judgment under this section has previously been refused, or unless the court otherwise orders.

6   Issue of certificate of judgments obtained in New South Wales

(1)  Where a judgment has been obtained in the Supreme Court against any person, the court shall, on an application made by the judgment creditor, issue to the judgment creditor a certified copy of the judgment.

(2)  In this section a certified copy of the judgment includes any copy authenticated in the manner prescribed by the law for the time being in force in any part of His Majesty’s dominions, or in any territory, to which this Part applies.

7   Power to make rules

(1)  Rules of court may be made under the Supreme Court Act 1970 regulating the practice and procedure (including evidence) in respect of proceedings of any kind under this Part.

(2)  Subsection (1) does not limit the rule-making powers conferred by the Supreme Court Act 1970.

Parts 3, 4

8–20 (Repealed)

Schedule (Repealed)

Historical notes

The following abbreviations are used in the Historical notes:

Proclamations made pursuant to sec 4:

Dominion, Colony &c	Act &c	Reciprocity Clause	Date of Order &c, applying Act to New South Wales	GG containing Date of Proclamation extending New South Wales Act
Ashanti	No 1 of 1922, as amended by No 10 of 1922	Section 6 (1)	1 Sept, 1925	No 93 of 9 July, 1926.
Barbados	No 31 of 1922	Section 6 (1)	13 Aug, 1925	No 19 of 12 Feb, 1926.
Basutoland	No 2 of 1922	Section 5 (1)	9 July, 1925	No 121 of 11 Sept, 1925.
Bechuanaland Protectorate	No 3 of 1922	Section 5 (1)	9 July, 1925	No 121 of 11 Sept, 1925.
Bermuda	No 9 of 1923	Section 5 (1)	16 Dec, 1925	No 121 of 11 Sept, 1925.
British Guiana	No 3 of 1922	Section 6 (1)	18 Aug, 1925	No 158 of 27 Nov, 1925.
British Honduras	No 163 of 1924	Section 6 (1)	1 Feb, 1928	No 88 of 6 July, 1928.
British Solomon Islands Protectorate	No 7 of 1922	Section 6 (1)	23 July, 1925	No 121 of 11 Sept, 1925.
Ceylon	No 41 of 1921	Section 6 (1)	1 Oct, 1925	No 135 of 9 Oct, 1925.
Colony of Singapore	No 34 of 1921 (of former Straits Settlements)	Section 5 (1)	4 Sept, 1925 (GG)	No 36 of 15 Feb, 1952.
Cyprus	No XXV of 1921	Section 6 (1)	23 July, 1925	No 135 of 9 Oct, 1925.
Falkland Islands	No 3 of 1922	Section 6 (1)	27 Oct, 1925	No 56 of 7 May, 1926.
Federation of Malaya	No 53 of 1949	Section 5 (1)	3 Nov, 1950	No 95 of 16 June, 1950.
Fiji	No 22 of 1922	Section 7 (1)	26 June, 1925	No 88 of 26 June, 1925.
Gambia	No 12 of 1922	Section 6 (1)	26 Jan, 1926	No 149 of 13 Nov, 1925.
Gibraltar	No 8 of 1921	Section 6 (1)	17 July, 1925	No 135 of 9 Oct, 1925.
Gilbert and Ellice Islands	No 5 of 1922	Section 6 (1)	23 July, 1925	No 121 of 11 Sept, 1925.
Gold Coast	No 1 of 1922	Section 6 (1)	31 Aug, 1925	No 19 of 12 Feb, 1926.
Gold Coast Northern Territories	No 1 of 1922, as amended by No 4 of 1922	Section 6 (1)	31 Aug, 1925	No 93 of 9 July, 1926.
Grenada	No 25 of 1921	Section 6 (1)	7 Aug, 1925	No 158 of 27 Nov, 1925.
Hong Kong	No 32 of 1921	Section 6 (1)	11 Sept, 1925	No 121 of 11 Sept, 1925.
Jamaica	No 16 of 1923	Section 6 (1)	8 Sept, 1925	No 135 of 9 Oct, 1925.
Kenya	No 21 of 1922	Section 5 (1)	30 Mar, 1926	No 161 of 4 Dec, 1925.
Leeward Islands	No 6 of 1922	Section 6 (1)	10 Sept, 1925	No 24 of 26 Feb, 1926.
Malta	No VII of 1924	Section 5 (2)		No 77 of 5 June, 1925.
Mauritius	No 14 of 1923	Article 6 (1)	24 July, 1925	No 149 of 13 Nov, 1925.
Newfoundland	12–13 Geo V, Cap 14	Section 1 (1)	Not necessary	No 62 of 21 May, 1926.
New Zealand	No 11 of 1922	Section 3 (2)	2 July, 1925	No 118 of 4 Sept, 1925.
Nigeria	No 8 of 1922	Section 5 (1)	25 Nov, 1925	No 158 of 27 Nov, 1925.
Northern Rhodesia	No 8 of 1922	Section 10	27 July, 1925	No 142 of 23 Oct, 1925.
Nyasaland Protectorate	No 3 of 1922	Section 6	18 July, 1925	No 142 of 23 Oct, 1925.
Palestine	Civil Procedure (Recip Enfct of Judgmts) Ordinance, 1922	Section 5	24 Aug, 1925	No 158 of 27 Nov, 1925.
St Helena	No 11 of 1926	Section 5	23 Aug, 1927	No 161 of 11 Nov, 1927.
Saint Lucia	No 6 of 1922	Section 6 (1)	14 Aug, 1925	No 24 of 26 Feb, 1926.
Saint Vincent	No 35 of 1921	Section 6 (1)	1 Aug, 1925	No 161 of 4 Dec, 1925.
Saskatchewan	No 12 of 1927	Section 10 (1)	28 Dec, 1928	No 149 of 2 Nov, 1928.
Seychelles	No 2 of 1922	Section 4 (1)	8 Aug, 1925	No 142 of 23 Oct, 1925.
Somaliland Protectorate	No 4 of 1921	Section 6 (1)	28 Nov, 1925	No 142 of 23 Oct, 1925.
Southern Rhodesia	No 4 of 1922	Section 5 (1)	18 Sept, 1925	No 127 of 25 Sept, 1925.
Straits Settlements	No 34 of 1921	Section 5 (1)	4 Sept, 1925 (GG)	No 121 of 11 Sept, 1925.
Swaziland	No 4 of 1922	Section 5 (1)	9 July, 1925	No 121 of 11 Sept, 1925.
Tanganyika Territory	No 37 of 1921	Section 6 (1)	8 Aug, 1925	No 149 of 13 Nov, 1925.
Trinidad and Tobago	No 50 of 1921	Section 11 (1)	29 Jan, 1926	No 135 of 9 Oct, 1925.
Uganda Protectorate	No 9 of 1922	Section 6 (1)	11 Jan, 1926 to take effect from 31 Oct, 1925	No 149 of 13 Nov, 1925.
Weihaiwei	No 10 of 1921	Section 6 (1)	25 Aug, 1925	No 158 of 27 Nov, 1925.
Zanzibar Protectorate	No 25 of 1921	Section 5 (1)	20 Jan, 1926	No 135 of 9 Oct, 1925.

Attention is drawn to sec 3A.

Table of amending instruments

Administration of Justice Act 1924 No 42. Assented to 19.12.1924. This Act has been amended as follows:

1925	No 15	Administration of Justice Act 1925. Assented to 8.12.1925.
1957	No 13	Supreme Court Procedure Act 1957. Assented to 8.4.1957. Date of commencement, 1.7.1957, sec 1 (2).
1965	No 12	Supreme Court and Circuit Courts (Amendment) Act 1965. Assented to 29.10.1965. Date of commencement, 1.1.1966, sec 1 (3) and GG No 145 of 12.11.1965, p 3682.
1970	No 52	Supreme Court Act 1970. Assented to 14.10.1970. Date of commencement, Part 4 excepted, 1.7.1972, sec 2 (1) and GG No 59 of 2.6.1972, p 2018. Amended by Supreme Court (Amendment) Act 1972 No 41. Assented to 11.4.1972.
1973	No 9	District Court Act 1973. Assented to 10.4.1973. Date of commencement, 1.7.1973, sec 2 and GG No 75 of 8.6.1973, p 2158.
	No 19	Administration of Justice Act 1973. Assented to 17.4.1973. Date of commencement of sec 10, 17.4.1973, sec 2 (1).
	No 36	Arbitration (Foreign Awards and Agreements) Act 1973. Assented to 8.5.1973. The Act was not commenced and was repealed by the Commercial Arbitration Act 1984 No 160.
	No 39	Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1973. Assented to 8.5.1973. Date of commencement, 2.5.1975, sec 2 and GG No 57 of 18.4.1975, p 1432.
1984	No 161	Administration of Justice (Commercial Arbitration) Amendment Act 1984. Assented to 14.12.1984. Date of commencement, 1.5.1985, sec 2 (2) and GG No 73 of 26.4.1985, p 1797.
1985	No 231	Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1985. Assented to 18.12.1985.
1994	No 95	Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (No 2) 1994. Assented to 12.12.1994. Date of commencement of the provision of Sch 2 relating to the Administration of Justice Act 1924, assent, Sch 2; date of commencement of Sch 3, assent, sec 2.
1999	No 31	Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1999. Assented to 7.7.1999. Date of commencement of Sch 5, assent, sec 2 (1).

This Act has also been amended pursuant to an order under secs 8 (2) and 9 (3) of the Reprints Act 1972 No 48 (formerly Acts Reprinting Act 1972). Order dated 15.10.1979 and published in GG No 142 of 19.10.1979, p 5278, declaring that:

(a)  the Administration of Justice Act 1924 is an enactment to which sec 8 (2) of the Acts Reprinting Act 1972 applies, and

(b)  the Administration of Justice Act 1924, the words “of this Act” in sec 3A (1) excepted, is an enactment to which sec 9 (3) of the Acts Reprinting Act 1972 applies.

Table of amendments

No reference is made to amendments made by the Reprints Act 1972, secs 8 (2) and 9 (3).

Sec 2	Am 1970 No 52, Second Sch; 1973 No 9, Sch 2; 1973 No 19, sec 10 (2) (a). Rep 1994 No 95, Sch 2.
Sec 3	Am 1925 No 15, sec 2 (1); 1970 No 52, Second Sch; 1984 No 161, sec 3; 1985 No 231, Sch 31.
Sec 3A	Ins 1973 No 39, sec 17.
Sec 5	Am 1970 No 52, Second Sch; 1994 No 95, Sch 3.
Sec 7	Subst 1970 No 52, Second Sch (am 1972 No 41, Third Sch).
Part 3	Rep 1999 No 31, Sch 5.1.
Part 3, Div 1, heading	Rep 1973 No 9, Sch 2.
Secs 8, 9	Rep 1973 No 9, Sch 2.
Part 3, Div 2, heading	Rep 1973 No 9, Sch 2.
Sec 10	Rep 1973 No 9, Sch 2.
Part 3, Div 3, heading	Rep 1970 No 52, Second Sch (am 1972 No 41, Second Sch).
Secs 11–13	Rep 1970 No 52, Second Sch.
Sec 14	Rep 1957 No 13, First Sch.
Part 3, Div 4, heading	Rep 1970 No 52, Second Sch (am 1972. No 41, Second Sch).
Sec 15	Am 1925 No 15, sec 2 (2). Rep 1970 No 52, Second Sch.
Part 3, Div 5, heading	Subst 1970 No 52, Second Sch. Rep 1999 No 31, Sch 5.1.
Sec 16	Rep 1970 No 52, Second Sch.
Sec 17	Rep 1999 No 31, Sch 5.1.
Part 3, Div 6, heading	Rep 1970 No 52, Second Sch.
Sec 18	Rep 1970 No 52, Second Sch.
Part 4	Rep 1973 No 19, sec 10 (2) (b).
Sec 19	Am 1965 No 12, sec 12. Rep 1970 No 52, Second Sch.
Sec 20	Am 1970 No 52, Second Sch. Rep 1973 No 19, sec 10 (2) (b).
Schedule	Rep 1957 No 13, First Sch.