BRUNEI DARUSSALAM COUNTRY REPORT

Transcription

1 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENFORCEMENT OF CIVIL CASE JUDGMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF DYNAMIC REGIONAL ECONOMIC INTEGRATION JULY 2015, BANGKOK, THAILAND BRUNEI DARUSSALAM COUNTRY REPORT

2 BRUNEI DARUSSALAM LEGAL SYSTEM BRITISH COMMON LAW SYSTEM Supreme Courts The Court of Appeal, High Court, Intermediate Court Subordinate Courts Magistrates Court, Juvenile Court, Small Claims Tribunal. SYARIAH LEGAL SYSTEM Syariah Courts - Family matters and syariah Penal offences Syariah Subordinate Courts Syariah High Court Syariah Appeal Court

3 LAWS & REGULATIONS CIVIL COURT PROCEDURES Subordinate Courts Act, Cap. 6 Intermediate Courts Act, Cap 162 Supreme Court Act. Cap.5 Supreme Court Appeals to Privy Council Act Cap. 158 Debtors Act Cap. 195 Distress Act Cap 199 Evidence Act Cap 108 Reciprocal Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act Cap 177 Specific Relief Act Cap 109 Companies Act Cap 39 (in relation to windingup) SYARIAH COURT PROCEDURES Syariah Courts Civil Procedure Order 2005 Syariah Courts Evidence Order 2001 Syariah Penal Code Order 2013

4 NATIONAL ENFORCEMENT SYSTEM & PROCEDURES PRE-JUDGMENT ATTACHMENT PROCEDURES DEBTOR ACT Arrest of Defendant before Judgment The Plaintiff may apply to Court at any stage of any action, to arrest the defendant and bring him before the court or a judge to show cause why he should not furnish security for his appearance Seizure of Property before Judgment The plaintiff may apply to seize the debtor s property before judgment

5 NATIONAL ENFORCEMENT SYSTEM & PROCEDURES POST- JUDGMENT ENFORCEMENT MODES Writ of Seizure and Sale/ Attachment and Sale of Movable Property movable property immovable property Examination of Judgment Debtor Garnishee Proceedings Bankruptcy Winding-up of Incorporated Company Charging Order Arrest of the Judgment Debtor Committal Proceedings

6 ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN JUDGMENT MAINTENANCE ORDERS RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT ACT (MOREA) MOREA provides for maintenance order made by the Brunei courts to be enforced in reciprocating countries listed in the Schedule The reciprocating countries listed in the Schedule are ; Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People s Republic of China.

7 ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN JUDGMENT RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN JUDGMENT ACT (REFJA) REFJA enable foreign judgments or order made by the courts in the reciprocating countries listed in the Schedule to be enforce in Brunei Darussalam. The Act also provides for judgment or order made by the Brunei courts to be enforced in reciprocating countries listed in the Schedule; Malaysia; and Singapore. If the foreign judgment is not from a country listed in Schedule, then the only method of enforcement at common law is by securing a judgment from a Brunei Court; filing a fresh case.

8 Arbitral Awards Brunei Arbitrations Laws; Arbitration Order 2009 ( AO ); regulate specifically on domestic arbitration in Brunei; and International Arbitration Order 2009 ( IAO ); regulate specifically international arbitration in Brunei. Brunei Darussalam acceded to the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention, 1958) - entered into force on 23 October It had exercised the reciprocity reservation and will only enforce arbitration awards from other New York Convention states.

9 JUDICIARY CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (JCMS) Officially launched and implemented on the 23 March 2015 by the State Judiciary Department for the Civil Courts in all four districts. The JCMS includes; o an online filing of court documents, o file searches and retrieval of documents, o case scheduling and court planners, o case file tracking, o a centralized database, o self-service kiosks, o attendance registration; o and a yet-to-be implemented SMS notification.

10 JUDICIARY CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (JCMS) The JCMS consists of 3 systems; E-Filing System, Case Management System & Queue Management System. E-Filing System The E-Filing is an electronic filing system designed to serve public users and legal practitioners in the electronic filing of court documents. One-stop portal for the legal community; electronic network connecting all civil courts nationwide Intended to cover civil and criminal litigation, bankruptcy, probate and marriage processes in both the Supreme Court and Subordinate Court.

11 JUDICIARY CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (JCMS) The benefits of e-filing are: Concurrent access to case documents, 24 Hours, 7 days a week. Interactive alerts, notifications & s. Cost-effective storage of files in digital format. Options of submitting from anywhere; no more queues. Achieve greater automation & end-to-end computerisation of court processes. Improve efficiency in management & administration of court related matters. Eliminate incidences of missing files. Allows counsel to file court document from anywhere; without queuing.

12 JUDICIARY CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (JCMS) Case Management System The system is for the internal use of the Judiciary only and allows for the assignment of cases and management of hearing schedules for Judges and Judicial Officers; and Queue Management System The Queue Management System allows members of the public and legal practitioners to obtain up-to-date hearing lists, status of cases and other court schedules via kiosks which are located in selected Court buildings. The interactive kiosks provides an orderly queue system. The services provided are as follows: Self-service kiosks Attendance Registration SMS Notification (yet to be implemented)

13 THANK YOU