The Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Qatar

The legislator has drawn up texts regulating the implementation of foreign judgments in the State of Qatar and specifying the jurisdiction of the national courts to settle disputes issued outside the borders of the State when they are presented to the national courts, and regulating how to resolve such type of disputes and to determine whether they fall within the jurisdiction of the judge or not, and determine the jurisdiction of the national courts and the court in which the jurisdiction is held to consider the dispute, and that it is not permissible to disqualify the Qatari judiciary in favor of a foreign judiciary, because the issue is related to the sovereignty and status of the state.

The legislator has set legal conditions that must be met in cases that have been previously examined by courts outside the country and decided upon by a final ruling for their implementation within the country. These conditions make the final judgment enforceable within the state without re-examination of the case.

Law No. (13) for the year (1990) issued the Civil and Commercial Procedures Law, Chapter One / Chapter Three: Executing of foreign judgments, orders and official bonds.

As it is also stated in Article 379 of this law that judgments and orders issued in a foreign country may be ordered to be executed in Qatar with the same conditions established in that country for the implementation of Qatari judgments and orders there. The order for execution is requested by ordering the litigant to appear before the execution judge at the High Court, in the usual conditions for filing a case.

The judgment issued in the litigation takes into account the formal conditions in its writing and its inclusion of the essential data required by the code of procedure Article (126), and neglecting its effect is the invalidity of the judgment as it is (contrary to public order).

Article (380) also states that it is not permissible to order execution except after verifying the following:

1. The courts of the State of Qatar are not solely competent to adjudicate the dispute in which the judgment or order was issued, and the foreign courts that issued it are competent in accordance with the rules of international jurisdiction established in its law.
2. The litigants in the case in which the judgment was issued had been summoned to appear and properly represented.
3. The judgment or order has the force of a res judicata in accordance with the law of the court that issued it.
4. The ruling or order does not conflict with a ruling or order previously issued by a court in Qatar, and it does not include anything that violates public order and public morals.

From this text, it becomes clear that it must be ascertained that the jurisdiction of the state’s courts to consider the dispute has not been held exclusively, and that the international jurisdiction of the foreign court has been established according to its law.

Ensure that the judgment is issued by a court in accordance with the law of the country in which it was issued and duly certified.

In addition to the presence of the litigants in the case in which the foreign judgment was issued, and that they were properly represented, and to ensure that the judgment had the power of the res judicata in terms of the litigants in the case refraining from returning to a discussion in this matter that was decided upon, even with new legal or factual evidence.

Finally, ensuring that the foreign judgment does not conflict with any judgment or order previously issued by any court within the country and that it does not conflict with the public order and the public morals in the country.

It is worth noting that the provisions of Articles 379 and 380 apply to the provisions of the arbitrators issued in a foreign country.

The issued judgment must be in a matter in which arbitration is permissible in accordance with the laws of the State of Qatar.

Also, official enforceable bonds issued in a foreign country may be ordered to be executed under the same conditions stipulated in the country’s law for the execution of official enforceable bonds issued in Qatar. The execution order shall be requested by a petition submitted to the execution judge. Execution may not be ordered except after verifying that the conditions required for the formality and enforceability of the bond are met in accordance with the law of the country in which it was made, and that it is free from anything that is in violation of the public order or morals in Qatar.

What should be mentioned in this regard that the Riyadh Agreement for Judicial Cooperation stated in its Article No. 25 the following:

1. Judgment, in the context of the application of this chapter, means every decision – whatever its name – that is issued based on judicial or state procedures by courts or any other competent authority of anyone.
2. Subject to the provisions of Article 30 of this Agreement, each of the contracting parties shall recognize the judgments issued by the courts of any other contracting party in civil cases, including judgments relating to civil rights issued by penal courts, and in commercial, administrative and personal status cases, which have the force of a res judicata, and it shall implement it in its territory in accordance with the procedures related to the implementation of the provisions stipulated in this chapter, if the courts of the contracting party to which recognition or enforcement is requested are or have jurisdiction under the provisions of this chapter, and the legal system of the contracting party to which recognition or enforcement is requested does not alone retain the jurisdiction to issue judgment to a trial or to the courts of another party.
3. This Article does not apply to:
   • Judgments issued against the government of the contracting party to which recognition or enforcement is requested, or against one of its employees, for acts he performed during the job or only because of it.
   • Judgments that its recognition or implementation is incompatible with the international treaties and conventions in force in the contracting party requested to be executed.
   • Provisional and precautionary procedures and judgments issued in bankruptcy cases, taxes and fees.