Introduction

Existence of a claim

Issuance of enforcement order (writs of execution)

Existence of seizable assets or claims

Conditions of enforcement

Judicial authority

Other authorities

Competent authorities and persons

Operations

Difficulties in enforcement

Implementation of compulsory enforcement

General regime of enforcement procedures

Concept of penalty

Scope ratione personae

Material scope

Determination of penalty

Competence of judge

Powers of court

Effects of ruling ordering or rejecting penalty

Pronouncement of penalty

Substantive conditions

Procedural conditions

Role and powers of the judge

Effects of liquidation judgment

Liquidation of the penalty

Penalty

Conditions of implementation

Contesting the measures

Ordinary law on protective measures

Protective seizures

Judicial security interests (sûretés judiciaires)

Specific regimes

Interim protective measures (mesures conservatoires)

Seizure of claims for sums of money

Seizure of tangible movable property

Seizure of intangible rights

Enforcement measures on movable property

Real estate seizures

Evictions

Enforcement measures on real estate

Enforcement measures

5. Civil Enforcement Procedures

Even though Article L. 111-3, 2° of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures classifies them among writs of execution, judgments rendered by courts of third States, unlike European judgments, are not exempt from the exequatur procedure for their recognition and enforcement in France . Indeed, the law requires that those judgments be “declared enforceable by a decision not subject to a suspensive a …

Exequatur procedure

Even though Article L. 111-3, 2° of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures classifies them among writs of execution, judgments rendered by courts of third States, unlike European judgments, are not exempt from the exequatur procedure for their recognition and enforcement in France . Indeed, the law requires that those judgments be “declared enforceable by a decision not subject to a suspensive appeal.” The procedure is governed by strict rules aimed at reconciling the principle of sovereignty, the protection of the parties' rights, and the guarantee of legal certainty.

The exequatur procedure is initiated by the party seeking to enforce the foreign decision. Indeed, the exequatur of a foreign judgment is not, in itself, an act of enforcement but a prerequisite for enforcement . The procedure is based on the provisions of Article 509-2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which stipulate that applications for recognition or declaration of enforceability of foreign enforceable titles in the territory of the Republic must be submitted to the court registry director of the Judicial Court. The Judicial Court, with a single judge, hears applications for recognition and exequatur of judicial decisions .

The exequatur procedure leads the court to verify the validity and regularity of the foreign judgment, as well as its compliance with the legal norms and procedures in force in the country where it was rendered. To grant exequatur outside any international convention, the French court must ensure that three conditions are met: the indirect jurisdiction of the foreign court, compliance with international public policy in substance and procedure, and the absence of fraud on the law . Firstly, regarding indirect jurisdiction, the foreign court must be considered indirectly competent when the dispute is characteristically connected to the country whose court has been seized and when the choice of jurisdiction does not appear fraudulent . Secondly, regarding compliance with public policy, it is verified not in relation to national public policy, but in relation to French international public policy . By applying this principle, a judgment from the High Court of London, which is not reasoned and whose documents that could serve as equivalents to the missing reasoning are not produced, must be declared contrary to the French concept of international procedural public policy . The court assesses sovereignly the documents that could serve as equivalents to the missing reasoning. If the court considers that the foreign decision meets the conditions to be executed in France, it issues an exequatur order. This order grants the foreign decision the same enforceable power as a French court decision. The exequatur decision is notified to the debtor . The enforcement of the judgment can then be pursued for ten years .

See, for an application, Cass. com., 12 November 2020, LawLex202100006109JBJ.

Cass. 1re civ., 14 October 2009, LawLex202200010959JBJ; 1 March 2023, LawLex202300004039JBJ.

Cass. 1re civ., 20 February 2007, LawLex202200010960JBJ; 3 March 2021, LawLex202300000824JBJ.

Cass. 1re civ., 6 February 1985, LawLex202300000529JBJ.

Cass. 1re civ., 15 January 2020, LawLex202300000530JBJ.

Cass. 1re civ., 22 October 2008, LawLex202300002808JBJ.

5. Civil Enforcement Procedures

22. Exequatur procedure

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

22. Exequatur procedure

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise