Recognition of foreign, non European Union court orders in Romania. Exequatur procedure.
As a general rule, a court order obtained in a foreign jurisdiction cannot be simply enforced or carried out in Romania. The court order needs to be recognised according to Romanian law and procedure for its effects to become enforceable.
In this article, we’ll break down the exequatur procedure, a procedure through which a Romanian court recognises the effects of court orders issued outside the European Union.
In short, Exequatur represents a procedure through which a Romanian court issues a court order recognising the effects of the foreign court order. Without obtaining a Romanian issued court order recognising the effects of the court order you obtained outside Romanian jurisdiction, no local authority will recognise the effects of the foreign court order you bring before it. Needless to say, without recognition of the foreign court order, you cannot obtain its legal enforcement in Romania with the help of civil enforcers or local authorities.
What is Exequatur?
Exequatur is one of the judicial procedures used for recognising and enforcing foreign court judgments in Romania. This procedure or an equivalent of it can be found in most modern legal systems. According to this procedure, a Romanian court of law decides if a foreign court ruling can be applied and enforced in Romania.
Exequatur does not mean the Romanian court re-examines your case again! The Romanian court issues a court order simply recognising the effect of the foreign court order as it was issued, without re-examining the merits of the case.
It is important to mention that the exequatur procedure is applied to court orders issued by a court of law outside the European Union. European Union states benefit from a simplified procedure we analyse separately, in another article.
Excerpt from court order recognising effects of Australian divorce court order
Why do Romanian courts perform recognition of foreign court orders?
First of all, a local court of law needs to verify the document you present is a veritable court order, issued by a foreign court of law.
Second, a court of law needs to verify if the court order is indeed definitive or if it can be enforced, or it said court order is not final.
Third, there are certain rulings issued by foreign courts which are contrary to Romanian public policy or certain rights which the Romanian lawmaker believes to be fundamental. Across the world, legal systems and cultures can be very different to one another. There are certain situations which are legal in one part of the world, but illegal in another.
Some situations when Exequatur is required (examples)
The most common situation when the exequatur procedure comes into play is in divorce cases. When one of the former spouses needs to deregister their marriage from public records, they must undertake the Exequatur procedure and obtain a Romanian court order recognising the foreign divorce court order or administrative document that ruled the divorce.
The interested party will present the local administrative authorities with the exequatur court order, issued by the Romanian court in recognition of the foreign court order‘s effects.
It is important to deregister marriage from public records, as no other marriage can be registered with the authorities until the previous one is erased from public records.
Another common situation when the exequatur procedure is used is for the recognition of court orders holding debtors to pay sums of money or to fulfil other obligations of pecuniary nature. However, the courts in your country might not be legally able to issue a court order against a debtor situated in Romania, according to your jurisdiction’s procedural regulations. If such is the case, you might need to address a Romanian court directly.
All following examples apply to any situation in which the parties got divorced outside the European Union.
Example 1 . Divorce cases.
Party A is a Romanian citizen and Party B is an Australian citizen. The parties married in Australia and their marriage was also registered in Romania. If the parties get divorced before an Australian court of law, either party can request that the marriage be deregistered from Romanian Public records. This is especially relevant when one of the parties wants to remarry in Romania or a Romanian citizen.
However, the interested party cannot simply bring the foreign court ruling before the Romanian Civil Registry; they will be asked to obtain a court order from a Romanian court, which will recognise the divorce in Romania.
Example 2 . Child support.
Party A and Party B are two Brazilian citizens; the two got married in Brazil and had a child. A Brazilian court decided Party A and Party B‘s divorce and the court gave Party A full custody of their only child, with Party B being obligated to pay monthly child support.
Party B moves to Romania and stops paying child support. In the case we are discussing, Party B’s assets are in Romania – liquidities (such as bank accounts in which Party B receives a monthly salary), goods (a car, an immoveable asset – an apartment). Party A needs to enforce the court order issued by the Brazilian court in Romania, to seize Party B‘s assets and recover the child support owed.
In this case, Party A will have to first file an application before the competent Romanian court for the issuing of an exequatur court order. The Brazilian court order will need to first be recognised by a Romanian court through the exequatur procedure. After that, Party A can bring the exequatur court order before a legal enforcer and have them freeze Party B‘s assets.
Example 3 . Civil and commercial cases involving financial claims.
A common application for the exequatur procedure is in civil or commercial cases involving financial claims. If the creditor obtained a court order against a party residing in Romania and the issuing court is from a non European Union country, the creditor can‘t simply request Romanian court officers to enforce the foreign court decision.
In this example, Party A is a company residing in Romania that was taken to court in Turkey. Party B, the claimant, requested reparations for Party A‘s default on a contract. Party A, the defendant, received a payment of 100.000 USD, but never delivered the goods agreed upon. The parties agreed the case would be tried by a Turkish court, according to the laws of Turkey. In this matter, the Turkish court recognised the claimant is entitled to damages, but the defendant has all their assets and liquidities located in Romania.
As the reader can already anticipate from previous examples, the foreign court order can‘t directly be enforced in Romania. It needs to be recognised by a Romanian court before the claimant can request enforcement be carried out over the defendant‘s assets.
Although there is no general rule, it is important to mention that most jurisdictions have rules of law according to which the creditor must address a court of law in the area where the debtor resides or has their headquarters. Usually, you should address a Romanian court if the debtor has their domicile or headquarters in Romania. In the example given here, the parties had previously agreed by contract to address the Turkish court.
General information on the procedure
These are the general steps for recognition of a foreign court order:
Submitting an Application before a Romanian Court: The party seeking to enforce the foreign judgment in Romania must file an application with the competent Romanian court. This application should include a copy of the foreign judgment certified for authenticity through Apostille of Hague, notarised translation by a Romanian notary, proof of the court order being definitive and proof that the other party/parties were legally notified during litigation before the foreign court or that they had knowledge of the procedure.
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.
Notification: The court may require the party against whom the judgment will be enforced to be notified and given the opportunity to raise objections if they believe the judgment should not be recognised.
Decision: Based on its examination, the Romanian court will either grant or deny recognition of the foreign court order. If granted, the foreign court order is recognised, and the winning party can proceed with enforcement in Romania.
Enforcement: After obtaining recognition of a foreign court order, the interested/winning party can take legal action to enforce the foreign judgment in Romania, such as seizing assets or obtaining payment through court agents.
Another procedure is applicable for European Union court orders
If a court of law within an European Union member state issued a court order, the general rule is that you, the creditor, still need to obtain a form or recognition. The procedure is more simplified than the Exequatur procedure (the one presented in this article), as the entitled party enforces a court order they obtained according to common European Union rules that form the community‘s framework.
For financial/civil or commercial claims, one will apply Regulation no. 1215/2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.
Within the European Union, in family, parental or matrimonial matters, parties will apply Regulation (EU) 2019/1111 of 25 June 2019 on jurisdiction, the recognition and enforcement of decisions in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, and on international child abduction.
You can read about the recognition of European Union Court Orders on our website.
Our services in such cases
Our services include, but are not limited to:
- Drafting the court application and representing your interests before the Romanian Court;
- Obtaining legalised translations of the court order you provide and of other legal documents necessary for the procedure;
- Enforcing the foreign court order against the Romanian debtor or against the debtor with assets in Romania;
- 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;
Depending on the country from which you obtained the foreign court order, we can also help you obtain an Apostile of Hague from foreign jurisdictions.
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.
European Union Member State Court Order Recognition in Romania
Article about the recognition and enforcement procedure in Romania for a court order issued by a court of a European Union member state
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!
European Union Member State Court Order Recognition in Romania
Article about the recognition and enforcement procedure in Romania for a court order issued by a court of a European Union member state
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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