BAHRAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Noor Al Rayes, Mohamed Al Sari and Raghad Al Matrook, Al Tamimi & Company
Where a judgment debtor satisfies the judgment in full, the enforcement proceedings are closed following confirmation of payment or performance. Under Arti - cle 42 of the Execution Law, annotations may be made on the debtor’s credit record regarding outstanding enforcement matters. The court record reflects satis - faction of the judgment; any enforcement measures, including attachments imposed during execution, are lifted in accordance with the Enforcement Court’s orders. There is therefore no separate public judg - ment register from which entries must be removed following payment. 3. Foreign Judgments 3.1 Legal Issues Concerning Enforcement of Foreign Judgments To execute a foreign ruling, a judgment creditor must submit an application to the High Civil Court, which verifies whether several strict cumulative conditions are met without re-examining the underlying merits of the dispute. Specifically, the court requires proof of reciprocity, ensuring the originating jurisdiction would enforce a Bahraini judgment under equivalent circum - stances, as well as confirmation that the ruling is final, conclusive and no longer subject to ordinary appeal. Furthermore, the foreign court must have had proper international jurisdiction, the debtor must have been lawfully served and afforded due process, and the terms of the judgment must not contradict any exist - ing Bahraini court decisions nor violate local public policy or the core principles of Islamic Sharia. Where international treaties apply, they supersede these domestic statutory requirements and signifi - cantly streamline the enforcement process by elimi - nating the need for strict reciprocity investigations. Bahrain is a signatory to several influential multilateral frameworks – notably, the 1983 Riyadh Arab Agree - ment for Judicial Cooperation and the 1995 GCC Treaty on the Enforcement of Judgments, both of which facilitate the seamless mutual recognition and execution of legal decisions among member states, provided they align with local public order. Bahrain also maintains bilateral judicial co-operation agree - ments with nations such as India and Egypt. However, when dealing with judgments from non-treaty jurisdic -
tions, including most Western nations, creditors must rely entirely on domestic law and bear the burden of proving reciprocity through legal opinions, statutory extracts or case law from the originating state. From a practical and procedural standpoint, the enforcement process requires the submission of legal - ised and apostilled copies of the foreign judgment, a certificate of finality and certified Arabic translations to the court. Once the High Civil Court issues a rec - ognition order, the case transfers to the specialised Court of Execution, where judges wield robust statu - tory powers to attach bank accounts, seize assets and issue travel bans against judgment debtors. While final default and summary judgments can be executed under this regime, interim injunctions and freezing orders generally cannot, due to their lack of res judicata finality. Creditors enforcing foreign arbitral awards benefit from an even more favourable regime; because Bahrain is a signatory to the 1958 New York Convention and has adopted the UNCITRAL Model Law, enforcing international arbitration awards is typi - cally faster and subject to fewer jurisdictional hurdles than executing foreign court judgments. 3.2 Variations in Approach to Enforcement of Foreign Judgments While baseline statutory prerequisites – such as reci - procity, international jurisdiction and public policy compliance – apply across the board, the practical admissibility and execution of a judgment depend heavily on the nature of the relief awarded. Monetary and Commercial Judgments Standard money judgments represent the most straightforward category to enforce in Bahrain, pro - vided the underlying debt is for a fixed or ascertain - able sum. Once a judgment is recognised by the High Civil Court, the specialised Court of Execution can deploy domestic recovery tools, including bank account garnishments, property seizures and travel bans. However, monetary awards are screened strictly for public order and Sharia compliance. For example, awards containing excessive, compounded or usuri - ous interest may be partially rejected or modified so that only the principal sum is executed.
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