January 8, 2020 - Introduced by Representatives Tusler, Hebl, Anderson,
Brooks, Knodl and Stubbs, cosponsored by Senators Risser and Wanggaard.
Referred to Committee on Federalism and Interstate Relations.
AB718,1,5
1An Act to create subchapter I (title) of chapter 806 [precedes 806.01],
2subchapter II (title) of chapter 806 [precedes 806.30], subchapter III (title) of
3chapter 806 [precedes 806.50], 806.50, 806.51, 806.52, 806.53, 806.54, 806.55,
4806.56, 806.57, 806.58 and 806.59 of the statutes;
relating to: adopting the
5Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill incorporates into Wisconsin law the 2005 Uniform Foreign-Country
Money Judgments Recognition Act adopted by the Uniform Law Commission. The
bill requires the courts of this state to recognize a judgment of a court outside the
United States that grants or denies the recovery of a sum of money. Under the bill,
to receive recognition by this state's courts, the foreign country's judgment must be
final, conclusive, and enforceable. The bill excludes foreign-country money
judgments that are for taxes, for forfeitures or fines, or for support, maintenance, or
a property division in connection with a domestic relations case.
Under the bill, this state's circuit courts are prohibited from recognizing a
foreign-country money judgment that was rendered by a judicial system that does
not provide procedures compatible with the due process of law or that did not have
jurisdiction over the subject matter. In addition, a circuit court may not recognize
a foreign-country money judgment if the foreign court did not have personal
jurisdiction over the defendant, but for purposes of the bill, personal jurisdiction
exists if any one of a number of criteria are met, including that the defendant was
personally served with process in the foreign country, the defendant voluntarily
appeared in the foreign court, the defendant had agreed to submit to the jurisdiction
of the foreign court, the defendant was domiciled in the country where the foreign
judgment was rendered, or the defendant was a business that was organized under
the laws of, or had its principal place of business in, that foreign country.
The bill allows the circuit courts to refuse to recognize a foreign-country money
judgment for a number of reasons, including if the defendant did not receive
sufficient timely notice of the proceedings, if the judgment was obtained by fraud, if
the claim for relief that resulted in the judgment is repugnant to the public policy of
this state, if the judgment conflicts with another final and conclusive judgment, or
if the circumstances of the rendering of the judgment raise substantial doubt about
the integrity of the foreign court that rendered the judgment.
The bill requires the circuit court, if it determines that the foreign-country
money judgment deserves recognition, to give the judgment full faith and credit in
this state, and to enforce that judgment in the same manner as a judgment rendered
by a court in this state.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB718,1
1Section
1. Subchapter I (title) of chapter 806 [precedes 806.01] of the statutes
2is created to read:
AB718,2,54
subchapter I
5
Judgment; general
AB718,2
6Section
2. Subchapter II (title) of chapter 806 [precedes 806.30] of the statutes
7is created to read:
AB718,2,119
Subchapter ii
10
judgment; Uniform
11
foreign money claims
AB718,3
12Section
3. Subchapter III (title) of chapter 806 [precedes 806.50] of the
13statutes is created to read:
AB718,3,42
Subchapter III
3
judgment; Uniform foreign-country
4
money judgments recognition
AB718,4
5Section
4. 806.50 of the statutes is created to read:
AB718,3,6
6806.50 Definitions. (1) In this subchapter:
AB718,3,77
(a) “Foreign country" means a government other than one of the following:
AB718,3,88
1. The U.S. government.
AB718,3,109
2. The government of a state, district, commonwealth, territory, or insular
10possession of the United States.