## Facts

- Harold Reginald Inkley, a British subject resident in England, was arrested in Florida in 1983 on federal fraud charges involving purported sales of non-existent oil wells.
- A U.S. federal court granted pretrial release subject to statutory bail conditions, including an appearance bond requiring Inkley to appear for trial or pay a specified sum (about US$48,000).
- Inkley failed to appear; the U.S. court treated the bond as forfeited and entered a judgment for the bond amount in proceedings framed in civil form.
- The United States sued Inkley in England (Queen’s Bench Division) seeking to recover the bond sum (about £34,096.76).
- A default judgment was initially entered for the United States; it was later set aside and the claim struck out by a master.
- A High Court judge allowed the United States’ appeal, reinstated the default judgment, and treated the claim as enforceable as a civil obligation.
- Inkley appealed to the Court of Appeal.

## Issues

1. Whether a claim to recover a forfeited appearance-bond sum, imposed as a condition of criminal bail in the United States, is properly characterized as civil/contractual or as part of a penal/public law process.
2. If the claim is penal or public in character, whether English courts must decline jurisdiction because they do not enforce foreign penal or public laws.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeal allowed Inkley’s appeal.
- The court held the bond-recovery claim was, in substance, an attempt to enforce a foreign penal/public law measure arising from criminal proceedings.
- Because English courts do not enforce foreign penal or public laws, the claim was non-justiciable in England.
- The reinstated default judgment could not stand, and the United States’ claim was not enforceable in England.

## Legal Principles

- English courts will not directly or indirectly enforce the penal, revenue, or other public laws of a foreign state.
- Characterization turns on substance and function, not procedural form; a claim styled as “civil” may still be non-enforceable if it serves foreign criminal enforcement.
- An appearance bond imposed as a condition of criminal bail, payable to the state upon non-appearance, is treated as connected to criminal process and penal/public in nature rather than as an ordinary commercial debt.

## Conclusion

The Court of Appeal refused to enforce a U.S. judgment and claim on a forfeited bail appearance bond because the obligation functioned as part of foreign criminal enforcement, placing it within the rule barring enforcement of foreign penal or public laws in England.


United States v. Inkley, [1989] 1 Q.B. 255 (C.A. 1988)