Exequatur in Russia
Preliminary consultation from a lawyer with 15-25 years of experience
At the outset, it is important to say that the state courts which resolve commercial disputes in Russia are called Arbitration Courts. It is often confusing to understand whether we are talking about a private International Commercial Arbitration Court or a state arbitration court. This article will be focused on the state arbitration tribunals.
Relations with a Foreign State regarding recognition and enforcement of foreign and international commercial arbitration awards are governed in the Russian Federation by the following documents:
- Treaty between the Russian Federation and a Foreign State on legal assistance and legal relations in civil and criminal matters.
- The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, also known as the "New York Arbitration Convention"
- the European Convention on International Commercial Arbitration of 1961.
- Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation.
It is very important to correctly determine jurisdiction and to apply to a Russian state court within the prescribed period: within 3 years from the date of entry into force of the decision of the foreign court or of the International Court of Arbitration.
Only if these conditions are satisfied the Russian court сan correctly determine the rules to be applied. After the expiry of 3 years, applications are not considered.
In the Russian Federation, recognition and enforcement of foreign state and international arbitration court judgments are carried out by state arbitration courts at the location of the debtor.
The procedure for recognition and enforcement of a foreign court or international arbitration award in the Russian Federation can be divided into the following stages:
Application for recognition and enforcement of an award.
Pursuant to Article 242 of the Code of Arbitration Procedure of the Russian Federation, the application shall contain basic information:
- name of the arbitral tribunal to which the application shall be filed;
- name and seat of the Polish court or name and seat of the international commercial arbitration tribunal;
- name and registered seat of the claimant;
- name and registered seat of the debtor;
- information on the foreign court judgement or foreign arbitral award, the recognition and enforcement of which is applied for by the plaintiff;
- application by the recoverer for recognition and enforcement of a foreign court judgement or foreign arbitral award;
- the list of documents to be attached.
An application for recognition and enforcement of a decision of a state court of a foreign state shall be accompanied by - a copy of its decision certified by the foreign court;
- a document certified by the foreign court certifying that the foreign court's decision has entered into force, unless this is not indicated in the text of the decision itself;
- a document certified by the foreign court certifying that the debtor was duly and timely notified of the proceedings in the foreign court whose decision the recoverer applies for recognition and enforcement of
- a power of attorney or other document duly certified and attesting the authority of the person signing the application for recognition and enforcement
- a document confirming that a copy of the application for recognition and enforcement of the decision of a foreign court has been sent to the debtor
Russian translation of the above documents certified by an official translator;
- a document confirming the payment of the state duty, the approximate amount of which is 35 EUR.
An application for recognition and enforcement of an arbitral award shall be accompanied by
- the original foreign arbitral award or a copy thereof certified by the arbitral tribunal;
- the original arbitration agreement (contract with arbitration clause) or a certified copy thereof;
- translation of submitted documents into Russian certified by an official translator.
- a document confirming the payment of the state duty, the approximate amount of which is 35 euros.
Enclosed documents shall be accepted from foreign applicants by state arbitration courts in the Russian Federation if these documents are legalised or apostilled.
Payment of the state fee is made in Russian roubles from the foreign organisation's accounts opened in the Russian Federation, or by the authorised representatives of the foreign organisation in Russia.
There is also an extremely rarely used method of payment of the state duty: the arbitration court withholds the state duty from the claimant, after making a ruling.
Examination of the application.
The application shall be considered by the judge alone according to the rules of first instance. The time limit for examination of the application is one month.
The state duty for consideration of the application, as well as the costs of the foreign company for legal services for submission of such an application to the court shall be recovered from the debtor.
A ruling recognising and enforcing a foreign court or arbitration award enters into legal force as soon as it is issued and is subject to immediate execution. On the basis of the ruling, the Russian arbitration court shall issue a writ of execution to the claimant. It is possible to appeal against the ruling in appeal and cassation within one month. An appeal, however, does not preclude its enforcement.
Еnforcement of a recognised decision of a foreign court (arbitration court).
The basis for enforcement of a foreign court or arbitration award, is an enforcement order issued by the arbitration court of the subject of the Russian Federation, which has issued a ruling on the recognition and enforcement of the relevant decision, issued after the issuance of the relevant ruling.
The procedure for enforcing foreign court judgments and arbitral awards is determined by the general rules of the Arbitration Procedural Code of the Russian Federation and the norms of the Federal Law "On Enforcement Proceedings". Enforcement is carried out by bailiffs at the location of the debtor and his property. The claimant does not have to pay for the work of bailiffs. The money for the enforcement is withheld by bailiffs from the recovered amounts.
Economic Disputes has accumulated extensive practical experience in successfully resolving the above-mentioned issues in Russian arbitration courts.
If necessary, we pay state fees and take part in court proceedings on behalf of clients.
By contacting us you will receive an exceptional level of service. Our lawyers speak English fluently. This allows us to work with clients and documents in English freely, without an interpreter, and to draw up a court position for the Arbitration Court in Russian.
