CHAD Law and Practice Contributed by: Claudy Monja and Felana Ranaivoson, John W Ffooks & Co
2.6 Lease Enforcement 2.6.1 Restrictions on Lessors’ Abilities There are no restrictions on a lessor’s ability to: • terminate an aircraft lease; • re-export the aircraft; and/or • sell the aircraft following such termination. The letter of the law does not specify whether the aircraft needs to be physically located in Chad at the time of any such action. 2.6.2 Lessor Taking Possession of the Aircraft On the basis of a deregistration power of attorney/ irrevocable power of attorney granted by the lessee to the lessor, neither the consent of the former nor a court order would be required in order for a lessor to take physical possession of the aircraft. 2.6.3 Specific Courts for Aviation Disputes A claim should be lodged by the lessor at the com - mercial court (first-instance level). Each party has to provide evidence to support its position and several hearings will be scheduled by the judge. 2.6.4 Summary Judgment or Other Relief A summary judgment can be obtained in relation to the lease. However, this is only available if there is urgency and there is no possibility for the counterparty to challenge the request of the lessor (eg, any unpaid sums in relation to the execution of the lease). The estimated period to obtain such a court order could be immediate or up to 30 days, depending on the specific injunctive relief requested to the court. 2.6.5 Domestic Courts’ Approach to Foreign Laws and Judgments The parties are free to choose the governing law of the lease. In addition, they are entitled to choose to sub - mit their disputes to a foreign court. Therefore, Chad - ian courts would uphold a foreign law as the governing law of an aircraft lease, as well as the submission to foreign jurisdictions if the parties agree to choose this. A waiver of immunity is also recognised.
2.6.6 Domestic Courts’ Recognition of Foreign Judgments/Awards Any foreign judgment (ie, final judgment of a foreign court or an arbitral award) can be enforced in Chad after an exequatur order by a Chadian court. An exequatur order is a decision of a Chadian court to enforce a foreign judgment in Chad after a final verifi - cation that such foreign judgment is not in breach of public order and good moral standards (ie, any deci - sion that may constitute a threat to national defence cannot be enforced in Chad). The case will not be re-examined on its merits. 2.6.7 Judgments in Foreign Currencies It is possible for a lessor under an aircraft lease to obtain a judgment in a foreign currency if the lease agreement sets forth this possibility. 2.6.8 Limitations on Lessors’ Actions Following Termination Following an event of default, it would be possible for a lessor to recover default interest. However, following termination of the lease after an event of default – in particular, if the lessee fails to return the aircraft – it would be difficult, if not impossible, to charge addi - tional rent. That said, the repossession of the aircraft would be possible and the lessor could claim compensation for damage suffered on the basis of the failure of the les - see to return the aircraft. 2.6.9 Lessor’s Requirement to Pay Taxes/Fees Any non-resident party (ie, the lessor) might be asked by the court to deposit a guarantee or caution (cautio judicatum solvi) at the request of the resident party. The caution is an amount of money to be deposited in escrow with the aim to cover any potential damages in the event of refusal of the claimant’s claim. The amount is fixed under the discretionary power of the court and there is no maximum threshold. The court will return the caution to the non-resident party if the latter wins the dispute. 2.6.10 Mandatory Notice Periods It is understood that the lessor will be required to com - ply with the mandatory notice period for termination
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