LUXEMBOURG Law and Practice Contributed by: Elisabeth Omes, Stephen De Ron and Lorenzo Cappelli, Elvinger Hoss Prussen
ment, subject only to the limited refusal grounds pro - vided by the Brussels I Recast Regulation. In cases where the 2007 Lugano Convention, the 2019 Hague Convention or the 2005 Hague Choice of Court Convention is applicable, the exequatur procedure may be granted pursuant to the procedure laid down in Articles 680-685 of the NCPC, which provide for a simplified exequatur. The requesting party must submit an ex parte applica - tion to the president of the District Court and produce a copy of the judgment and any documents necessary to establish that the judgment has effect. Generally, a declaration of enforceability is still required. With no convention or international instrument, in order to be granted legal effect in Luxembourg, adver - sarial civil court proceedings before the district court will be initiated. Following the exchange of written and oral pleadings, a decision is rendered that will be subject to appeal within 40 days after being served. The judge must ensure that the conditions mentioned above are satisfied. With the exception of conservatory measures, only after exequatur proceedings may enforcement pro - ceedings be initiated. They relate to coercive meas - ures taken by the foreign judgment creditor over assets owned by the debtor and located in Luxembourg. The foreign judgment has to be enforceable in its country of origin. The transfer of assets from the judgment debtor to the creditor may only be ordered once the foreign judgment has been duly exequatured. 3.5 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Foreign Judgments The costs and timeframe for enforcing foreign judg - ments depend on whether the foreign judgment was rendered in an EU member state or non-EU jurisdic - tion. Neither time nor costs tend to be too high under Brus - sels I Recast Regulation as the procedure requires only that the creditor seeking enforcement in another member state produce an authentic copy of the judg - ment together with the Article 53 certificate. Judicial proceedings will only occur if the debtor challeng -
es the enforcement and launches proceedings to obstruct the enforcement in Luxembourg. Where enforcement is sought under an applicable international convention, the “simplified” exequatur enables the applicant to apply to the president of the District Court to obtain an ex parte basis decision within a few weeks. However, any appeal against the decision may significantly extend the overall duration of the proceedings. In the absence of an applicable convention or inter - national instrument, the exequatur proceedings are adversarial and follow the ordinary rules of civil pro - cedure. As a result, the proceedings may take several years if appeals are pursued. The time required to enforce a foreign judgment will also depend on the extent to which the judgment debtor contests enforcement. 3.6 Challenging Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Under the Brussels I Recast Regulation, the general rule is that a judgment given in another member state may be enforced in another member state without the need for a prior exequatur procedure. As enforcement may therefore commence without delay, the Brussels I Recast Regulation enables the debtor to apply to the court of the jurisdiction in which enforcement is made, to order measures to control or suspend pend - ing the determination of an application for refusals of enforcement. Where such application has been made, the court of the member state where enforcement is sought has the discretion, at the request of the debtor, to opt for one of the following: • protective measures – the court may limit the enforcement to conservatory steps, such as pre - serving assets, without allowing full execution; • security – the court may allow the enforcement to continue only if the creditor provides security in an amount or form fixed by the court; or • suspension – the court may stay the enforcement entirely or only as to part of the enforcement meas - ures.
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