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39 Japanese Ann. Int'l L. 55 (1996)
The Recognition of Foreign Judgments by the Japanese Courts

handle is hein.journals/jpyintl39 and id is 63 raw text is: 55 THE RECOGNITION OF FOREIGN JUDGMENTS BY THE JAPANESE COURTS Morio Takeshita* I. Introduction** 1. Attitude to Foreign Judgments The aim of this paper is, through the analysis of precedents on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, to examine the present state of this system in Japan. We begin this analysis with some preliminary remarks. Most countries are ready to recognize and enforce foreign judgments under certain conditions. The reasons for this are quite obvious. One is that there is a need to protect their rights beyond borders. A second is a need to prevent contradictory *Professor, Surugadai University and Professor Emeritus, Hitotsubashi University **The cases as referred to throughout this article are concerned with Article 200 of the Code of Civil Procedure as it stands now. It reads: A final and conclusive foreign judgment shall have its effect insofar as it satisfies the following conditions: (1) the jurisdiction of the foreign court is not denied by law or treaty; (2) if the defeated defendant is a Japanese, the defendant was served a summons or an order necessary for the commencement of the procedure other than by publication, or has voluntarily appeared without so being served; (3) the judgment of the foreign court is not repugnant to ordre public in Japan; and (4) reciprocity is given,' On June 26, 1996, the Code of Civil Procedure was reformed in a comprehensive way. The new Code enters into force at a date as specified by the decreee of the Cabinet in two years from June 26, 1996. To the knowledge of the editor, that date is probably January 1, 1998. The recognition of foreign judgments is laid down in Article 118 of the new Code of Civil Procedure. Article 118 reads: A final and conclusive foreign judgment shall have its effect insofar as it satisfies the following conditions: (1) the jurisdiction of the foreign court is not denied by law or treaty; (2) the defeated defendant was served a summons or an order necessary for the commencement of the procedure (except that by publication) or has voluntarily appeared without so being served; (3) the judgment of the foreign court is not repugnant to ordre public in Japan in its content and proceedings upon which it was based; and (4) reciprocity is given. The rule is substantially unaltered. The judgments which have been rendered pursuant to Article 200 of the present Code will not lose their values in the future. The legislator made minor changes in Article 118 of the new Code. Subparagraph 2 is no longer a Japanese clause. Subparagraph 3 explicitly lays down procedural ordre public as well as substantive ordre public as a threshold. These changes, however, seems to be nothing more than to endorse the court practice under the present Code as referred to in this article.

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