European Union Member State Court Order Recognition
Recognition and enforcement of EU member state court order
As a general rule, a court order cannot be enforced or carried out directly in a foreign country.
This is not the case, however, for judgements passed down in civil cases by courts of law within European Union member states. According to the applicable European Union law, a judgment given in a member state shall be recognised in the other member states without any special procedure being required.
Although the European Union legal framework offers this great advantage, the interested party still needs to perform the formality of obtaining an official certificate from the authority of the issuing member state.
Different situation. Recognition of judgement issued by a court outside the European Union
A judgement issued by a court of law from a country outside the European Union needs to be recognised by a Romanian judge through a court order. In legal doctrine and practice, this is known as Exequatur.
You can read more about the situation of non-EU court orders and about the different procedure by clicking this link.
We will preface this by establishing that there are multiple legal acts within the European Union‘s legislative framework that regulate the formalities for enforcing a judgement in another member state. Because legislation of the European Union can be complex, we encourage you to present us your case beforehand.
General information on the procedure
These are the general steps for recognition of a foreign court order:
Obtaining a certificate from the issuing court: Romanian authorities do not automatically recognise foreign court orders or other legal documents, even if said documents are translated into Romanian. You, the interested party, will require (1) a copy of the judgment which satisfies the conditions necessary to establish its authenticity and (2) a certificate/form issued by the court which issued the judgment, in accordance with European Regulation 1215/2012 or European Regulation 1111/2019.
This step requires you to contact the competent authorities in the European State where the judgment was given. A standard form/certificate containing essential information about the judgment must be obtained by you and provided to us. Depending on the member state and the nature and content of the document, you might also be required to apply an Apostile of Hague on the document. In Romania, the judgment together with the certificate obtained from the competent court (in case of court orders) will be translated and notarized.
Examination of the Foreign Judgment: The Romanian court reviews the foreign judgment to ensure it meets certain criteria. These criteria include verifying that the judgment is final, enforceable in the foreign country, and not contrary to Romanian public policy.
Submitting an application to the bailiff for enforcement of the judgment: After the legalised translation of the judgment and the certificate, they will be attached to an application addressed to the competent court officer. The court officer will examine whether the formalities have been complied with and, if there is no obstacle to recognition of the judgment, will authorise enforcement. The competent court will also check if these formalities are met, and will proceed to give the enforcer the authority to take all necessary measures to enforce the court order against the debtor.
Our services
Our services include, but are not limited to:
- Due diligence regarding debtor goods and addressing the legally competent court enforcer;
- Supervision of the enforcement procedure;
- Obtaining legalised translations of the court order you provide and of other legal documents necessary for the procedure;
- Representing you before Romanian courts of law during the enforcement procedure, should the debtor challenge the legal character of the enforcement;
- Representing you before Romanian courts of law should you wish to freeze the debtor’s assets, to prevent them from hiding or selling their assets;
There are, of course, many situations that can arise from such an enforcement and which cannot be reasonably forseen such as ill-faithed acts performed by the debtor to hide their assets, which can generate further litigation, court actions taken by the debtor to challenge the enforcement or, generally, attempts by the debtor to make enforcement more difficult.
Also see:
File a claim before a Romanian court
If the debtor is located in Romania, we can help! Find out general information in the following article.
Recognition of Foreign, Non-EU Court Orders in Romania. Exequatur Procedure
Article about the recognition and enforcement procedure for a foreign court order in Romania
Romanian Lawyer Office. Simplified procedure of debt recovery in Romania
The creditor may opt for a judgement under a simplified procedure and significantly lower court costs. Find out more in the following article!
Romanian Lawyer Office. Simplified procedure of debt recovery in Romania
The creditor may opt for a judgement under a simplified procedure and significantly lower court costs. Find out more in the following article!
Recognition of Foreign, Non-EU Court Orders in Romania. Exequatur Procedure
Article about the recognition and enforcement procedure for a foreign court order in Romania
File a claim before a Romanian court
If the debtor is located in Romania, we can help! Find out general information in the following article.
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About Us
Mr. Andrei-Mihnea Gane, Managing Partner
We understand how difficult it is for our clients to find legal professionals they can entrust their case to outside their country’s jurisdiction. We aim to offer professional, high quality legal services to clients from outside Romania and build durable relations based on trust and transparency.
We are authorised under law to practice by the National Bar Union of Romania. We’ve assisted hundreds of clients in civil cases before Romanian Courts of law over the years, many of which have been international clients. We invite you to read the articles posted on our website, articles in which we’ve attached examples of court orders from our practice.
About Us
Mr. Andrei-Mihnea Gane, Managing Partner
We understand how difficult it is for our clients to find legal professionals they can entrust their case to outside their country’s jurisdiction. We aim to offer professional, high quality legal services to clients from outside Romania and build durable relations based on trust and transparency.
We are authorised under law to practice by the National Bar Union of Romania. We’ve assisted hundreds of clients in civil cases before Romanian Courts of law over the years, many of which have been international clients. We invite you to read the articles posted on our website, articles in which we’ve attached examples of court orders from our practice.
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