Constitutional Court Rules On State Immunity From Execution

In a judgment dated 27 April 2017, the Constitutional Court (Grondwettelijk Hof / Cour Constitutionnelle) (the "Constitutional Court") largely confirmed the validity of the statutory provision governing State immunity from execution (Article 1412quinquies of the Belgian Judicial Code) which became law in September 2015.

As a general rule, Article 1412quinquies of the Belgian Judicial Code provides that assets located in Belgium that belong to a foreign State are immune from execution and cannot be subject to enforcement proceedings by creditors.

There are, however, exceptions to that rule under strict conditions: a party wishing to seize the assets belonging to a State needs to obtain a prior authorisation from a judge (Beslagrechter / Juge des saisies). This judge will only authorise the seizure if: (i) the foreign State has "expressly" and "specifically" consented to the seizure of the assets; (ii) the foreign State has specifically allocated those assets to