392
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the necessary steps to get such judgment enforced, we were informed by him that no judgment of a foreign Court would be recognised and enforced by the Macao Court unless and until it had been previously reviewed and confirmed by the Supreme Court of Goa, and that the process of obtaining such review and confirmation would be an exceedingly lengthy one inasmuch as the Defendant must be summoned to appear, by himself or some legal representative, before that Court, and show cause why the judgment should not be confirmed
We were therefore advised that the simplest, in fact the only feasible, method to pursue would be to commence proceedings de novo in the Macao Court upon the original cause of action
It has long been an established rule in all civilized Countries that a final and conclusive judgment pronounced by the Court of one Country over persons within its jurisdiction for the time being, and in a matter with which it is competent to deal, will be enforced by the Court of another civilized country, provided that no substantial injustice, according to the notions of the latter Country, has been committed; and, where the Defendant has voluntarily appeared and defended the action, no objection to the jurisdiction can possibly be raised.
A judgment which has been pronounced by the Court of Macao in similar circumstances would unquestionably be enforced in the Court of Hongkong without further investigation This being so, it is submitted that the fact that a judgment of this Court will not be similarly recognised in the Macao Court is in the highest degree unsatisfactory
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The Colony of Macao lies at a distance of less than 40 miles from this Colony and there is a constant flow of communication between the two places Moreover a very large portion of the population of this Colony consists of persons of Portuguese nationality, many of whom possess property and