Recognition and enforcement of foreign court decisions in Belarus

Our lawyers accompany foreign clients in applying to the Economic Court of Belarus to make the decision of the foreign court against the Belarusian debtor (on debt collection, etc.) enforceable. Only on the basis of the recognized decision the recoverer may apply for foreclosure of the debtor’s property for the purpose of debt recovery

The legal effect of foreign decisions in Belarus is based on international treaties or on the principle of reciprocity. Belarus is a party to bilateral treaties on legal assistance with Hungary, the Czech Republic, Cuba, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, the People’ s Republic of China, Vietnam, Iran, Bulgaria, Syria, Italy, Turkey and Serbia. These documents define the basic principles and procedure for recognition of court decisions of the aforementioned countries on collection of debts from non-residents.

Court decisions in the CIS countries* are enforced on the basis of the Kiev Agreement on the Procedure for Resolution of Disputes Related to Business Activities.

Decisions of the courts of those states with which Belarus does not have contractual relations are recognized and enforced in the Republic of Belarus on the basis of the principle of reciprocity, i.e. on the basis of the procedural presumption.

How to recognize and enforce the decision of a foreign court in Belarus

1. Apply to the Economic Court in Belarus. The applicant shall apply to the Economic Court at the legal address of the debtor or at the location of his property. The application to the Economic Court shall be made in a written form. The following shall be attached to the application:

• certified copy of the decision of the foreign court. Decisions of courts from the CIS countries* and countries with which the Republic of Belarus has concluded legal assistance agreements are certified by a judge’s signature and sealed with a national stamp. The same procedure is provided for the countries-participants of the Minsk Convention or the Chisinau Convention. Documents from other countries are subject to apostilization or legalization;
• document on the entry into force of a foreign court decision. If the decision is to be enforced before it enters into force, this shall be stated in the text of the decision. Otherwise, the possibility of enforcement of the decision before its entry into force shall be confirmed by an additional document;
• document on timely notification of the debtor of the consideration of the case in a foreign court;
• document certifying powers and authorities of the signatory of the application;
• confirmation of sending the debtor a copy of the application for recognition and enforcement of the decision of the foreign court.

Each of the documents drawn up in a foreign language is subject to mandatory translation into Russian or Belarusian. A state duty in the amount of 10 base values is paid for consideration of the application (the amount of the base value as of November 28, 2017 is 23.00 Belarusian rubles).

2. The consideration of the application by the Economic Court and entry of judgment. When considering the application, the Belarusian court does not consider the decision of the foreign court on the merits, but only verifies the absence of formal signs for refusal to recognize and enforce the decision of the foreign court.

The application is considered within one month.

Following the results of consideration of the application, the Economic Court either satisfies the request for recognition of the foreign decision, or refuses to satisfy it on the following grounds:

• the foreign decision has not entered into force if the international treaty does not allow for the recognition and enforcement of the decision before its entry into force;
• the debtor has not been notified of the time and place of the trial or otherwise could not present his explanations to the court;
• the consideration of the case falls within the exclusive competence of the court in Belarus;
• there is an effective court decision in Belarus on a dispute between the same persons concerning the same subject matter and on the same grounds;
• the court in Belarus is considering a dispute between the same persons on the same subject matter and on the same grounds as the proceedings initiated before the commencement of the proceedings in a foreign court, or if the court in the Republic of Belarus was the first to accept for its proceedings a statement on the dispute between the same persons, on the same subject matter and on the same grounds;
• the limitation period for bringing a foreign court decision to enforcement has expired, and this period has not been restored by the Economic Court;
• the enforcement of a foreign court decision would be contrary to the public policy of the Republic of Belarus.

3. Compulsory enforcement of a foreign court decision. If a Belarusian company does not voluntarily enforce the court’s decision, the recoverer has the right to apply to the enforcement authorities at the location of the debtor with a request to initiate enforcement proceedings. The application may be submitted in a written form or in the form of an electronic document.

The enforcement authority initiates enforcement proceedings within three days of receipt of the documents. After that, the debtor is granted a seven-day period for voluntary repayment of the debt. If this does not happen, the bailiff proceeds to the compulsory collection of funds.

Legal services on enforcement of foreign court judgments in Belarus

• we will prepare documents for the Economic Court to legalize the decision of the foreign court in Belarus; 
• we will support in the actual execution of a foreign decision in Belarus. 

* Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine