EGYPT Law and Practice Contributed by: Amr A Abbas, Ahmed Abdel Hakeem, Khaled Abou El Wafa and Adham Ahmed Saied, Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy
around six to 12 months. The court’s decision to issue an exequatur is subject to appeal, which takes around six months to decide. The costs incurred in the enforcement of a foreign judgment consist of a filing fee of approximately EGP1,000, while a fee of 2.5% of the amounts subject to the enforcement procedures (not the total awarded amounts) is charged for each enforcement measure. This fee could be paid more than once, depending on the nature of the enforcement measures against the defendant’s assets. However, the 2.5% fee will be retrieved from the counterparty – ie, added to the amounts collected from the counterparty. 3.6 Challenging Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Generally, the party against whom enforcement of a foreign judgment is sought may argue non-fulfilment of the legal requirements in order to stop the enforce - ment procedures. By way of example, this party may raise specific arguments about the due process and proper notification of the foreign proceedings, the lack of jurisdiction of the court that rendered the judgment, and that the foreign judgment violates public policy or is not final. However, once an exequatur is issued, the judgment will be enforced according to the same requirements and procedures as for the enforcement of domestic judgments. It will also be subject to the same chal - lenges and obstacles explained in 2.5 Challenging Enforcement of Domestic Judgments . 4. Arbitral Awards 4.1 Legal Issues Concerning Enforcement of Arbitral Awards Subject to the provisions of international conventions applicable in Egypt, the enforcement of arbitral awards is regulated under the Egyptian Arbitration Law No 27 of 1994. Arbitral awards enjoy the authority of res judicata under Egyptian law. However, a party seeking the enforcement of an arbitral award must obtain an execution order from the competent court (exequatur) to forcibly enforce it against the defendant.
In addition, Egypt is a signatory to a number of con - ventions that facilitate the enforcement of arbitral awards, such as the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “New York Convention”) (Egypt signed it on 2 February 1959 and ratified it on 8 June 1959) and the 1966 ICSID Convention (Egypt signed it on 11 February 1972 and ratified the same on 2 June 1972). 4.2 Variations in Approach to Enforcement of Arbitral Awards Egyptian arbitration law differentiates between domestic arbitral awards seated in Egypt and for - eign arbitral awards seated outside Egypt. While the enforcement of domestic arbitral awards is governed by Article 56 of the Arbitration Law, the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards is governed by the New York Convention. Recently, the courts found that in the event of a contradiction between the provisions of Egyptian domestic law and the provisions of the New York Convention, the provisions of the New York Convention would prevail. Furthermore, Egyptian courts found that the enforce - ment of foreign arbitral awards cannot be subject to rules stricter than those applicable to national arbitral awards. 4.3 Categories of Arbitral Awards Not Enforced Generally, arbitral awards that do not impose any obli - gation on their parties cannot be subject to compulso - ry enforcement. To be enforceable, the arbitral awards should not contradict any previous judgment rendered by Egyptian courts, nor violate the provisions of public policy. Moreover, the Cairo Court of Appeal conclud - ed that public policy encompasses procedural rules aiming at safeguarding the interests of the state but does not extend to procedural rules designed solely to protect the interests of the contracting parties. It is well established in the jurisprudence of the Egyptian Court of Cassation that not every breach of a manda - tory rule under Egyptian law amounts to a violation of public policy. In addition, the enforcement of the arbitral award can - not be granted if the award is rendered in a matter that
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