Tribal Court Civil Money Judgment Act.

The existing Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act provides that foreign judgments that grant or deny recovery of a sum of money and that are final and conclusive are enforceable in California, with specified exceptions. The act includes within the definition of "foreign-country judgment" a judgment by any Indian tribe recognized by the government of the United States. This bill would, until January 1, 2018, exempt Indian tribal judgments from the Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act, and would instead enact the Tribal Court Civil Money Judgment Act. The new act would likewise provide for the enforceability of tribal court money judgments in California, except as specified. The act would prescribe the procedure for applying for recognition and entry of a judgment based on a tribal court money judgment, the procedure and grounds for objecting to the entry of judgment, and the bases upon which the court may refuse to enter the judgment or grant a stay of enforcement. The bill would require the Judicial Council to prescribe a form for the notice of filing the application for recognition of the tribal court money judgment, as specified. The bill would require that this application be executed under penalty of perjury, which would expand the scope of the crime of perjury and thus impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the California Law Revision Commission to conduct a study of the standards for recognition of a tribal court or a foreign court judgment under the Tribal Court Civil Money Judgment Act and the Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act, and submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Legislature and the Governor no later than January 1, 2017. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.