Bill Text: IN SB0022 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Application of foreign law.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-01-07 - First reading: referred to Committee on Rules and Legislative Procedure [SB0022 Detail]
Download: Indiana-2013-SB0022-Introduced.html
Citations Affected: IC 31-14-19-1; IC 31-18; IC 31-19-28;
IC 31-21-1-3; IC 34-7-8; IC 34-54.
Synopsis: Application of foreign law. Prohibits the enforcement of
foreign law (defined as a law established and used outside the
jurisdiction of the United States) against a natural person, if the
enforcement would violate a right granted by the constitution of
Indiana or the United States. Provides that a provision in a contract or
agreement between natural persons calling for the application of
foreign law is not enforceable and is void if the provision cannot be
modified. Prohibits a court from granting certain motions to transfer a
case to another jurisdiction if the transfer is likely to affect the
constitutional rights of a natural person who is a nonmoving party.
Effective: July 1, 2013.
January 7, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on Rules and Legislative
Procedure.
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A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning civil
procedure.
(1) a voluntary acknowledgment; or
(2) a judicial or an administrative process.
(1) a state of the United States;
(2) the District of Columbia;
(3) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; or
(4) any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
The term includes an Indian tribe and a foreign jurisdiction that have enacted a law or established procedures for issuing and enforcing support orders that are substantially similar to the procedures under this
article or the procedures under the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of
Support Act or the Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of
Support Act. The term does not include a foreign jurisdiction that
has enacted a law or established procedures related to the subject
of this article that result in a violation of any right guaranteed by
the Constitution of the State of Indiana or the Constitution of the
United States.
(1) be verified and set forth:
(A) the amount remaining unpaid; and
(B) a list of any other states in which the support order is registered; and
(2) have attached to it a certified copy of the support order with all modifications of the support order.
(b) Subject to IC 34-7-8, the registered foreign support order shall be given full force and effect subject to confirmation or rescission of the order by the court.
(1) the adoption decree:
(A) when filed with the clerk of the court of any county in Indiana; and
(B) when entered upon the order book of the court in open session;
has the same force and effect as if the adoption decree were made in accordance with this article;
(2) the adopted person:
(A) has the same rights; and
(B) is capable of taking by inheritance, upon the death of the adoptive parent, property located in Indiana;
as though the person had been adopted according to the laws of Indiana; and
(3) if a name other than a name in the adoption decree is requested, the adopted person shall take the name requested in a petition filed under this section.
(b) Every adoption decree issued by a court of any other jurisdiction outside a state or the United States is subject to
IC 34-7-8.
(1) is valid under the law in force in the state, territory, or country where the consent to adoption was taken; or
(2) would be valid if the consent to adoption had been taken in Indiana;
is a valid consent to an adoption. Every consent to adoption taken in a jurisdiction outside a state or the United States is subject to IC 34-7-8.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (c), a child custody determination made in a foreign country under factual circumstances in substantial conformity with the jurisdictional standard of this article must be recognized and enforced under IC 31-21-6.
(c) An Indiana court need not apply this article if the child custody law of a foreign country violates the fundamental principles of human rights or (as prohibited under IC 34-7-8) any right guaranteed to a natural person by the Constitution of the State of Indiana or the Constitution of the United States.
Chapter 8. Application of Foreign Law
Sec. 1. This chapter does not apply to:
(1) a contract or agreement in which one (1) or more of the parties is not a natural person; or
(2) a final, unappealable order of an Indiana court issued
before July 1, 2013.
Sec. 2. As used in this chapter, "foreign law" means any law,
rule, or legal code or system:
(1) established; and
(2) used or applied;
in a jurisdiction that is located outside a state or the United States.
Sec. 3. A court, arbitrator, administrative agency, or other
adjudicative, mediation, or enforcement authority may not enforce
a foreign law if doing so would violate a right guaranteed by the
Constitution of the State of Indiana or the Constitution of the
United States.
Sec. 4. (a) If any contractual provision or agreement provides
for the choice of a foreign law to govern its interpretation or the
resolution of any dispute between the parties, and if the
enforcement or interpretation of the contractual provision or
agreement would result in a violation of a right guaranteed by the
Constitution of the State of Indiana or the Constitution of the
United States, the agreement or contractual provision shall be
modified or amended to the extent necessary to preserve the
constitutional rights of the parties.
(b) Any contractual provision or agreement described in
subsection (a) that is incapable of being modified or amended in
order to preserve the constitutional rights of the parties in
accordance with this chapter is void.
Sec. 5. (a) If a contractual provision or agreement provides for
the choice of venue or forum outside a state or the United States,
and if the enforcement or interpretation of the contract or
agreement applying that choice of venue or forum provision would
result in a violation of any right guaranteed by the Constitution of
the State of Indiana or the Constitution of the United States, that
contractual provision or agreement shall be interpreted or
construed to preserve the constitutional rights of the person
against whom enforcement is sought.
(b) In a case in which a natural person subject to personal
jurisdiction in Indiana seeks to maintain an action in Indiana, the
court may not grant a motion of forum non conveniens or a related
motion through which the movant seeks to have the case heard in
a foreign forum if the court finds that granting the motion would
violate or would likely lead to the violation of the constitutional
rights of the nonmovant in the foreign forum with respect to the
matter in dispute.
Sec. 6. If there is a conflict between the provisions of this
chapter and the provisions of any other state statute, including:
(1) IC 31-14-19 (paternity determination by foreign
jurisdiction);
(2) IC 31-18-6 (Uniform Interstate Family Support Act);
(3) IC 31-19-28 (adoption decrees in foreign jurisdictions);
(4) IC 31-21 (Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act);
(5) IC 34-54-11 (Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments
Act); and
(6) IC 34-54-12 (Uniform Act for the Recognition of Foreign
Country Money Judgments);
the provisions of this chapter control with respect to the
application of foreign law.
(b) The clerk of the court in which the copy is filed shall treat the foreign judgment in the same manner as a judgment of an Indiana court.
(c) A foreign judgment filed under subsection (a) has the same effect and is subject to the same procedures, defenses, and proceedings for reopening, vacating, or staying as a judgment entered by an Indiana court.
(d) A foreign judgment filed under subsection (a) is subject to IC 34-7-8.
(b) A court may not recognize a foreign country judgment if:
(1) the judgment was rendered under a judicial system that does not provide impartial tribunals or procedures compatible with the requirements of due process of law;
(2) the foreign court did not have personal jurisdiction over the defendant;
(3) the foreign court did not have jurisdiction over the subject matter; or
(4) the judgment would otherwise result in a violation of a natural person's rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the
State of Indiana or the Constitution of the United States.
(c) A court is not required to recognize a foreign country judgment
if:
(1) the defendant in the proceeding in the foreign court did not
receive notice of the proceeding in sufficient time to enable the
defendant to defend;
(2) the judgment was obtained by fraud that deprived the losing
party of an adequate opportunity to present its case;
(3) the judgment or the cause of action on which the judgment is
based is repugnant to the public policy of Indiana or of the United
States;
(4) the judgment conflicts with another final and conclusive
judgment;
(5) the proceeding in the foreign court was contrary to an
agreement between the parties under which the dispute in
question was to be determined otherwise than by proceedings in
that foreign court;
(6) in the case of jurisdiction based only on personal service, the
foreign court was a seriously inconvenient forum for the trial of
the action;
(7) the judgment was rendered in circumstances that raise
substantial doubt about the integrity of the rendering court with
respect to the judgment; or
(8) the specific proceeding in the foreign court leading to the
judgment was not compatible with the requirements of due
process of law.
(d) A party resisting recognition of a foreign country judgment has
the burden of establishing that a ground for nonrecognition stated in
subsection (b) or (c) exists.
