DOCTRINE OF OBLIGATION

doctrine  of  obligation.English law. The rule that if a foreign court of competent jurisdiction

has adjudicated a certain sum to be due from one person to another, the liability to pay that sum

becomes a legal obligation enforceable domestically by a debt action. • Once the plaintiff proves

the  judgment,  the  burden  shifts  to  the  defendant  to  show  why  the  obligation  should  not  be

performed. The doctrine was established by Baron Parke in Russell v. Smyth, 9 M. & W. 810, 819

(1842). — Often shortened to obligation. [Blacks Law 8th]