BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Dominique Blommaert, Jens Benoot, Lydie Van Muylem and Fryderyk de Peslin Lachert, Janson
Documents required to enforce the decision are the following: • a copy of the judgment that satisfies the conditions necessary to establish its authenticity; and • a certificate issued according to Article 53 of the Brussels I Recast Regulation (and annexed to the Regulation) that: • certifies that the judgment is enforceable; • contains an extract of the judgment; and • contains relevant information on the recoverable costs of the proceedings and the calculation of interest, where appropriate. When enforcing an EU judgment ordering a provision - al or protective measure, pursuant to Article 42 of the Brussels I Recast Regulation, the applicant must pro - vide the competent enforcement authority with: • a copy of the judgment that satisfies the conditions necessary to establish its authenticity; and • a certificate issued according to Article 53 of the Recast Brussels Regulation, containing a descrip - tion of the protective measure and certifying that: • the court has jurisdiction as to the substance of the matter; and • the judgment is enforceable in the member state of origin; proof of service of the judgment if the measure was ordered without the defendant being summoned to appear; and • where the measure was ordered without the defendant being summoned to appear, proof of service of the judgment. The competent enforcement authority can, where nec - essary, require the applicant to provide a translation or a transliteration of the contents of the certificate, if it is unable to proceed without such a translation. The above-mentioned certificate issued according to Article 53 of the Brussels I Recast Regulation must be served on the person against whom the enforcement is sought before the first enforcement measure. The certificate must be accompanied by the judgment, if not already served on that person.
On application of the person against whom enforce - ment is sought, the enforcement of a judgment will be refused if one of the grounds for refusal is established. No security, bond or deposit (however described) is required from parties who apply in one EU member state for the enforcement of a judgment rendered in another EU member state on the ground that they are foreign nationals or not domiciled or resident in the addressed member state. The exequatur procedure applies for judgments to which the Brussels I Recast Regulation is not appli - cable. Non-EU Judgments For judgments rendered outside the EU, the BJC pro - vides for a procedure based on an ex parte application brought, in principle, before the court of first instance (and in some specific cases, before the family court or the enterprise court) of the domicile or habitual residence of the person against whom enforcement is sought or, if the person is not domiciled or habitu - ally resident in Belgium, the court of the place of the enforcement of the judgment. The CPIL refers to the procedure set out in Articles 1025 to 1034 of the BJC. The documents that the applicant needs to submit are the following: • a certified copy of the decision, which according to the law of the state where it was rendered, meets the conditions required for its authenticity; • if the judgment is a default judgment, the proof of service to the non-appearing party; and • a document showing that the judgment is enforce - able and notified or served. The applicant must have a postal address or a repre - sentative in the territory of the enforcing court. The enforcement proceedings for a foreign judgment are initiated by an ex parte application by the party requesting the foreign judgment (or foreign authentic instrument) to be recognised or declared enforceable. The judge must render their decision within a short period and this procedure does not differ depending on the nature of the judgment.
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