Earlier this month, the High Court of Australia unanimously decided that a judgment creditor cannot apply for a certificate to effect enforcement overseas in circumstances where the judgment debtor is bankrupt.

The Background of the Case

In March 1992, several properties in central Prague, which had been seized by and vested in the state of Czechoslovakia after World War Two, were restored to one Jan Emil (the son of the owners of the properties), who resided in Melbourne, Australia.