NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Christian Reusch, Øystein Nore Nyhus, Therese Sætre Løfsgaard and Oda Lauksund Engamo, Simonsen Vogt Wiig
judgment in a matter where the parties have agreed in writing to the judgment of a foreign jurisdiction (for a specific matter or for matters arising out of a specific legal relationship – eg, a contract) being enforceable in the same way that a Norwegian judgment would be enforceable. In other words, a foreign judgment can only be enforced in Norway if the parties have agreed to the jurisdiction of the foreign court. Changes to the Norwegian Bankruptcy Act that came into force on 1 July 2021 imply that judgments related to bankruptcy can be enforced in Norway to a greater extent. Prior to the changes, it was not possible to enforce such judgments in practice. One of the new requirements is that the foreign country recognises Norwegian bankruptcies. 3.2 Variations in Approach to Enforcement of Foreign Judgments In Norway, the approach to the enforcement of foreign judgments will vary depending on the sort of obliga - tion that is sought to be enforced but does not vary by different types of judgments. However, petitions for the enforcement of any foreign judgment must be filed with the district court instead of directly with the enforcement officer. In general, the foreign judgment will not be subject to a retrial and the Norwegian court will not review the merits of the foreign judgment. A foreign judgment will not be reviewed with respect to its substance, and the Norwegian court will not undertake any review of the facts or the law of the foreign judgment. 3.3 Categories of Foreign Judgments Not Enforced See 3.6 Challenging Enforcement of Foreign Judg- ments . 3.4 Process of Enforcing Foreign Judgments In order to enforce a foreign judgment or award in Nor - way, the creditor must file a request for enforcement with the competent district court. The legal venue is determined by the domicile of the debtor or the loca - tion of its assets. The judgment to be enforced must be attached to the request – either the original or a duly certified copy. The creditor must also provide a Norwegian translation of the judgment.
The court will undertake a preliminary assessment of the legitimacy of the application and then give notice to the debtor, with a two-week deadline for comment - ing on matters of importance for enforcement of the claim. Once this period has expired, the court may decide whether to grant the application and send it to the enforcement authorities or to reject it. Once the application of enforceability has been grant - ed, enforcement is made pursuant to the local rules of enforcement in the Norwegian Enforcement Act. The court will send its decision to the bailiff for execu - tion, and the enforcement authorities will then decide when to search for assets and enforce the judgment or award pursuant to the application. For judgments under the Lugano Convention, no deadline to respond will usually be given to the debtor before the court decides that the judgment is enforce - able and then sends it to the enforcement authorities. Judgments on monetary claims are normally enforced by submitting an application for attachment with the debtor’s assets to the local enforcement office. The enforcement office can grant the attachment for any assets belonging to the debtor, including bank accounts, real estate, movable property and claims against third parties. The application for the attach - ment may be filed in conjunction with the request for enforcement, and in the same document. 3.5 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Foreign Judgments The timeline for the enforcement of foreign judgments will be about the same as for domestic judgments, but some extra time must be expected to obtain the dec - laration of enforceability. The costs involved will also be more or less the same, in addition to any required translation costs. If more than one local enforcement office is competent to enforce the judgment, it might be worth investigat - ing the normal case-handling time for each of the local enforcement offices, in order to choose the one that is most efficient.
352 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook