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]