Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Court and Arbitral Awards in Georgia

For Belarusian business, Georgia has long become a sought-after jurisdiction: Georgian companies are used for supplies, logistics, IT projects, and real estate transactions. Against this background, the question increasingly arises of how to achieve recognition and enforcement of a foreign court judgment in Georgia, including a judgment of a Belarusian economic court or an international arbitration. Whether a "paper victory" turns into actual recovery from the debtor's Georgian assets depends on correctly choosing the legal basis, the court, and the package of documents.

What does recognition of a foreign court judgment mean in Georgia?

Recognition of a foreign court judgment is a procedural mechanism by which a court of the enforcing state gives a foreign court's judgment the same binding force as domestic judicial acts. In Georgian law, this mechanism is set out in the Law of Georgia "On Private International Law" and the Civil Procedure Code of Georgia.

For the purposes of Georgian law, a foreign court judgment is an act of a court of another state in a civil or economic (commercial) dispute that has entered into legal force and is enforceable in the country where it was issued. A foreign arbitral award is a decision of a permanent or ad hoc arbitration (arbitral) tribunal, issued outside Georgia or under foreign law, and falling within the scope of the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.

The term "exequatur" is used in legal doctrine to denote the judicial procedure for recognizing a foreign judgment. In essence, an exequatur is a separate procedural case in which a Georgian court examines not the merits of the judgment itself but only compliance with formal and a limited range of substantive criteria (court jurisdiction, proper notice, absence of a violation of public policy, and absence of conflict with previously issued judgments).

What is the regulatory basis, and what should a Belarusian creditor rely on?

The regulatory framework for recognizing and enforcing foreign judicial and arbitral awards in Georgia is multi-layered. At the international level, the key instrument is the 1958 New York Convention, of which Georgia has been a party since the mid-1990s. The Convention establishes unified grounds for recognition and refusal for foreign arbitral awards and is applied directly by Georgian courts.

The second important pillar is the 1993 Minsk Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family, and Criminal Matters. The Convention is in force between Belarus and Georgia and provides for the mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and family matters, including commercial disputes. Articles 51 and 55 of the Minsk Convention directly establish the obligation of member states to recognize each other's court judgments and list a closed set of grounds for refusal, including the absence of proper notice to the defendant and conflict with the public policy of the enforcing state.

Which Georgian courts hear applications for recognition?

A distinctive feature of the Georgian model is that jurisdiction over the recognition of foreign court judgments and arbitral awards is concentrated in a single body. Under the Law of Georgia "On Private International Law," applications for recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments are heard by the Supreme Court of Georgia, while applications relating to arbitral awards are heard by the competent courts of general jurisdiction, taking into account the provisions of the Law of Georgia "On Arbitration."

In practice, the vast majority of applications for recognition of a foreign court judgment in Georgia are heard by the Supreme Court. The court checks for the existence of an international treaty between Georgia and the state where the judgment was issued (for Belarus — the Minsk Convention), compliance with jurisdictional rules, documentary requirements, and grounds for refusal.

It is important for a Belarusian creditor to understand that a Georgian court does not review the case anew on its merits and does not reassess evidence already evaluated by a Belarusian economic court or arbitration. The review concerns only formal criteria and public policy. This is consistent with both the Minsk Convention and the New York Convention's approach to arbitral awards.

Which documents are needed?

The package of documents for recognizing a foreign judgment in Georgia is determined jointly by the Minsk Convention and national legislation. Typically required are an original or duly certified copy of the court judgment, a document confirming that the judgment has entered into legal force, a document confirming proper notice to the defendant, and evidence of the authority of the person filing the application.

From an international-law perspective, one little-known practical nuance is of interest. The article of the Minsk Convention on the confirmation of official documents provides that documents issued or certified by the competent authorities of one Contracting Party and bearing an official seal are recognized as valid on the territory of the other parties without any additional certification. In other words, under the Minsk Convention between Belarus and Georgia, documents from state authorities (for example, a Belarusian economic court) do not require an apostille or consular legalization for a Georgian court to recognize them as official.

At the same time, the requirements of Georgian procedural law remain in place for the application itself and the documents attached by the creditor. They must be translated into Georgian, generally with notarized certification of the translation. Where documents fall outside the scope of the Minsk Convention or are used outside its mechanism, the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention applies, of which Georgia is also a party, simplifying legalization for Belarusian companies.

Which grounds for refusal do Georgian courts most often rely on?

An analysis of practice shows that the key grounds for refusing recognition of a foreign court judgment in Georgia fit within the framework set by the Minsk and New York Conventions. Georgian courts check whether enforcement of the judgment would violate Georgia's public policy, whether the debtor was properly notified of the proceedings, and whether there is a conflict between the judgment sought to be recognized and a previously issued Georgian judgment, or an already recognized foreign judgment, on the same dispute.

Public policy, in the Georgian interpretation, is understood as the fundamental principles underlying the constitutional order, basic human rights, and the fairness of judicial proceedings. The mere fact that the foreign law applied differs from Georgian law, or the size of the amount awarded, is generally not regarded as a violation of public policy.

A separate category of grounds relates to proper notice to the defendant. If the debtor convincingly proves that it did not receive the summons or case documents and could not participate in the proceedings, a Georgian court is entitled to refuse recognition of the judgment. This is precisely why it makes sense for a Belarusian claimant, already at the stage of proceedings before the economic court, to build an evidentiary record on notifying the foreign defendant: documenting the dispatch of court notices, using international postal tracking identifiers, keeping screenshots of electronic notifications, and maintaining a careful communications log.

For arbitral awards, an additional set of grounds applies, reflected in Article V of the New York Convention: the absence of a valid arbitration agreement, the arbitration exceeding its jurisdiction, and violation of the procedure for constituting the arbitral tribunal. However, a Georgian court is likewise limited to this scope of review and does not reconsider the dispute on its merits.

How does enforcement work: from judgment to asset seizure and banking restrictions

Once the court issues a ruling recognizing a foreign judgment, the case moves into the sphere of enforcement proceedings. In Georgia, authority over compulsory enforcement of judicial acts is concentrated in the National Bureau of Enforcement, which operates under the Law of Georgia "On Enforcement Proceedings."

A foreign court or arbitral decision is first "transformed" into a document enforceable under Georgian law. On the basis of the court's ruling, the Bureau opens enforcement proceedings, issues an order to levy execution on the debtor's property, and is entitled to apply coercive measures, including seizing funds in bank accounts, prohibiting registration actions in respect of real estate and vehicles, and imposing travel restrictions on an individual debtor.

In practice, interaction with Georgian banks becomes important. After receiving the order to levy execution, a bank is obliged to freeze the debtor's accounts up to the amount of the debt and transfer the funds to the creditor, in compliance with currency and banking regulation requirements. For Belarusian companies, this means the need to agree in advance with Georgian partners on the currency of the obligation, the conversion procedure, and possible restrictions on cross-border transfers.

Enforcement proceeding timelines depend on the nature of the assets and the debtor's conduct. If the debtor has open accounts and liquid assets, actual enforcement may take just a few weeks after recognition. In more complex cases involving asset searches, corporate structures, or disputes over priority among secured creditors, the process is prolonged.

Practical recommendation and a little-known fact about the Minsk Convention

The practical recommendation for Belarusian companies aiming for enforcement in Georgia is simpler to state than to implement: already at the contract and litigation stage in Belarus, one needs to "play on the Georgian field." This means including in the contract a clear jurisdiction clause and terms on methods of notice that will look convincing to a Georgian court; carefully documenting all dispatches to the debtor; obtaining the fullest possible package of documents from the Belarusian court immediately after the judgment enters into force; and conducting an advance check of the debtor's financial position and the presence of assets specifically in Georgia.

A little-known but extremely useful fact relates to the 1993 Minsk Convention. Unlike many regional agreements, the Convention continues to apply between Georgia and Belarus and, in addition to the mechanism for recognizing judgments, contains a rule exempting official documents from additional legalization or an apostille when exchanged between the contracting states. For a creditor, this means real savings in time and cost in certifying judicial documents, provided the procedure is structured through the competent authorities.

What role does the law firm "Economic Disputes" play in such cases?

Cases involving the recognition and enforcement of foreign judicial and arbitral awards require a combination of deep understanding of Belarusian procedural law, international treaties, and the specifics of the enforcing state's national legislation. It is precisely at this intersection that the law firm "Economic Disputes" operates. The team brings together lawyers with 15–25 years of litigation experience, many of whom regularly speak at professional conferences and have experience supporting cross-border disputes and asset recovery.

The professional path of the company's director, Sergei Belyavsky, is of particular importance for preparing such cases. For 20 years he worked in the system of economic courts of the Republic of Belarus, including 10 years as a judge, and today he serves as a recommended arbitrator of the International Arbitration Court at the BelCCI and an arbitrator at other international arbitration institutions, as well as the author of five books and more than 1,500 publications on judicial and arbitration practice.

The infrastructure of "Economic Disputes" LLC is oriented toward serving international clients. The Minsk office at 11 Kulman Street and the Grodno office at 23 Kaliuchynskaya Street ensure a presence in the country's key business centers, and fluency in English and Polish enables direct communication with foreign partners and counterparties. An important practical advantage is the company's own bank account with PKO Bank Polski, which significantly simplifies settlements with foreign clients and partners.

Over the years, the company has built a broad partner network spanning more than 160 countries around the world — from Spain to China and Mongolia, from the United States to South Africa — which is particularly important in cases involving the recognition and enforcement of judgments, where a debtor's assets often need to be located across several jurisdictions simultaneously. More than 2,000 clients, whom the lawyers have helped return or save over 1.9 billion Belarusian rubles, and more than 100 positive reviews on the website confirm that an approach based on a combination of litigation experience, international connections, and strict procedural discipline works in practice.

If your company faces the task of recognizing and enforcing a judicial or arbitral decision in Georgia or another jurisdiction, it is worth building a strategy in advance that takes into account both Belarusian law and the requirements of the enforcing state. To discuss your specific situation and choose the optimal route for recognizing a judgment, leave a request for a consultation on our website.