The necessity and importance of a reform of the judgment enforcement laws of New Brunswick has long been advocated. In 1976, the New Brunswick system was already described as a "complex and poorly interrelated collection of procedures" (Kerr Report, 1976) that existed before the major legal reforms of the last century and a half. Although the system has been modified to correspond with new legislation on personal property securities and land titles registration and to allow for the use of new technologies, the reforms have proceeded on a rather haphazard basis and have not endeavoured to simplify and rationalize the system,

Notwithstanding several attempts, no legislative reform to harmonise and codify the current system of enforcement of judgments has been adopted. Considering these discrepancies, a research team, composed of Assistant Professor Micheline Gleixner, Natalie LeBlanc and Sacha Morisset, undertook to pursue the analysis carried out in the New Brunswick studies published in 1976, 1985 and again in 1994, with a view to facilitating the drafting and the adoption of a new act harmonising the province’s judgment enforcement system and ensuring that it answers the concerns of the members of the Bar and the citizens of New Brunswick.

The report entitled A Plea for a New Brunswick Judgment Enforcement Act and the article "The New Brunswick Judgment Enforcement Act: Has its Time Finally Come?" (2012) 63 UNBLJ 280 provide critical analysis of various elements to further the important debate that must take place in the wake of the modernization of our province’s judgment enforcement system. Comments and discussions are encouraged on the issues addressed in this report as well as the proposals and recommendations contained therein. An invitation has already been issued by the government in the Law Reform Notes #30 (December 2011, at 2) for any comments on the issues relating to a new Judgment Enforcement Act. The Legislative Services Branch of the Office of the Attorney General can be reached at:

Room 111, Centennial Building
P.O. Box 6000, Fredericton, N.B., Canada E3B 5H1
Tel.: (506) 453-6542; Fax: (506) 457-7342
E-mail: lawreform-reformedudroit@gnb.ca

In conclusion, the authors hope that the current government maintains its current goal to enact a modern NBJEA in the upcoming legislative sessions and that this report will help the province achieve its objective.