Recognition & enforcement of asian judgments in France

There are many countries located on the continent of Asia. France has signed international treaties relative to mutual legal assistance on civil matters with five of them, China, Laos, Mongolia, The United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam. The recognition and enforcement of an Asian judgment in France (commonly called Exequatur) will be subject to the provisions of international treaties and by French law. The conditions laid down by international treaties are as follows:

China: Agreement on Mutual Assistance in Civil and Commercial Matters between the government of the French Republic and the government of the Peoples Republic of China of May 4th, 1987. This agreement also applies to criminal cases regarding the compensation. (link).

Article 22 of the Agreement has negative conditions which means that a judgment may not be recognized of the following conditions are met:

When the decision originates from an court which does not have proper jurisdiction under the law of the country in which the decision must be enforced,
When the original jurisdiction has, in matters of status and capacity of persons, applied another law than the one which should have been applied pursuant to the private international rules of the country in which the enforcement is sought, except when the solution is identical,
When the decision is not final pursuant to the law of the country of origin of the decision,
When the failing party was not legally cited to appear in court and could not defend himself/herself,
When the enforcement of the decision infringes the sovereignty or security of the country where said enforcement is sought, or is contrary to its public order,
Where the enforceable decision of the court of the requested Party concerns a dispute between the same parties, based on the same facts and having the same object or when the decision is final, delivered by a court of a third State concerning a dispute between the same parties, based on the same facts and having the same purpose , was already recognized by the court of the requested Party ,

As an example, the Paris Court of appeal has recognized a Chinese decision since all the conditions of the 1987 Agreement were met (Paris Court of Appeal, February 19^th, 2009 n°07/15029).

Laos: French-Laos Agreement on mutual assistance establishing a simplified recognition and enforceemnt procedure of November 16th, 1956 (link).

This agreement states in its article 7 that all court decisions in civil and commercial matters originating from one the countries are automatically recognized in the other country if the following conditions are met:

The decision is, according to the laws and regulations of the country in which it has been rendered, final and enforceable,
The parties have been legally cited to appear, represented or declared in default and, in case of default, the citation has been made in good time. The default decision must be motivated.
The decision is not contrary to public policies or to the public law principles of the country where the recognition is sought. It must not be contrary to a court final decision rendered in that country,
The decision originates from a court that has proper jurisdiction under the private international rules of the countries where the recognition is sought, except if the Party refuses such principle.

Mongolia : Agreement between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the Mongolian People’s Republic on mutual legal assistance, recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil matters of February 27^th, 1992 (link).

Diplomatic letters rectifying a couple of errors of May 29th, 1992 (link).

This agreement states in its article 18 that court decisions originating from one the countries can be recognized and enforced in the other country if the following conditions are met:

The decision originates from a court that has proper jurisdiction under the laws and regulations of the country where the recognition is sought,
The law applied to the dispute is the one designated by the rules of conflict of laws accepted in the territory of the requested State. However, the applied law may be different from the law designated by the rules of conflict of the requested State if the application of either law leads to the same result;
The decision has become final and is enforceable. However, in matters of maintenance obligations, custody of a minor or visiting rights, the decision may simply be enforceable in the territory of the State where it was rendered ;
The parties have been legally cited to appear, represented or declared in default and, in case of default, the citation has been validly notified and made in good time so that they have been able to defend themselves,
The decision does not infringe the public policies of the required State,
A dispute between the same parties, on the same facts and with the same object is not :

Pending in a court of the required State which was seized first or,
Has not given rise to a decision in the required State, before the decision which recognition is sough or,
Has not given rise to a decision rendered in a third State on a date prior to that of the decision submitted for recognition and satisfies the conditions necessary for its recognition in the requested State.

Vietnam : Agreement relative to mutual judicial assistance in civil matters between the government of the French Republic and the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam of February 24th, 1999 (link).

This agreement states in its article 21 that court decisions originating from one of the countries can be recognized and enforced in the other country if the following conditions are met:

The decision originates from a court that has proper jurisdiction under the laws and regulations of the country where the recognition is sought,
The law applied to the dispute is the one designated by the rules of conflict of laws accepted in the territory of the requested State. However, the applied law may be different from the law designated by the rules of conflict of the requested State if the application of either law leads to the same result;
The decision has become final and is enforceable. However, in matters of maintenance obligations, custody of a minor or visiting rights, the decision may simply be enforceable in the territory of the State where it was rendered ;
The parties have been legally cited to appear, represented or declared in default and, in case of default, the citation has been validly notified and made in good time so that they have been able to defend themselves,
The decision does not contain any provision contrary to the principles and fundamental values of the required State,
A dispute between the same parties, on the same facts and with the same object is not :

Pending in a court of the required State which was seized first or,
Has not given rise to a decision in the required State, before the decision which recognition is sough or,
Has not given rise to a decision rendered in a third State on a date prior to that of the decision submitted for recognition and satisfies the conditions necessary for its recognition in the requested State.

United Arab Emirates: Convention between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the Republic of the United Arab Emirates on mutual legal assistance, recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters of September 9 th, 1991 (link).

Article 13 states that court decisions originating from one of the countries can be recognized and enforced in the other country if the following conditions are met:

The decision originates from a court that has proper jurisdiction under the laws and regulations of the country where the recognition is sought or under the rules of article 14 of this Agreement,
The law applied to the dispute is the one designated by the rules of conflict of laws accepted in the territory of the requested State. However, the applied law may be different from the law designated by the rules of conflict of the requested State if the application of either law leads to the same result;
The decision has become final and is enforceable. However, in matters of maintenance obligations, custody of a minor or visiting rights, the decision may simply be enforceable in the territory of the State where it was rendered ;
The parties have been legally cited to appear, represented or declared in default,
The decision does not infringe the public policies of the required State,

This agreement also States that the judgment may not be recognized in the other State if a dispute between the same parties, over the same facts and having the same object is:

Pending before a court of the required State first seized or,
Has given rise to a court decision rendered by a court of the required State first seized,

The most recent recognition case of a court decision originating from the United Arab Emirates is dated February 3rd, 2015 n°13/11366. In this case, the Paris Court of Appeal recognized the foreign decision rendered by the Emirates’ Supreme Court on March 9^th, 2004 since it met all the mandatory conditions.

As for judgments originating from asian countries without an international treaty, they will be subject to the provisions of article 509 of the French code of civil procedure as well as the conditions laid down by the famous Cornelissen case of February 20^th, 2007. Essentially, in order to recognize and enforce such a judgment in France, the French judge will verify that the court decision meets the following requirements:

The foreign Court has proper jurisdiction under French law,

The foreign Judgment complies with French procedural and substantive public policies,

The foreign Judgment was rendered without fraudulent forum shopping (evasion of the law)

The enforcement of an asian judgment on French territory is possible as long as the conditions laid down by French law and international treaties are met. You can visit this page to learn more about the recognition process and this page to learn more about how to seize the assets of the debtor once the judgment is recognized.

I have extensive experience in private international law matters and particularly with recognition and enforcement proceedings. You can use the Contact form if you have any questions or wish to enforce a foreign Judgment in France. You will receive a response within 24 hours.