QATAR Law and Practice Contributed by: Hani Al Naddaf and Maysa Sleiman, Al Tamimi & Company
2.5 Challenging Enforcement of Domestic Judgments The debtor has several interconnected avenues – both procedural and substantive – through which it can resist, suspend or defeat enforcement once an application has been filed with the Enforcement Court. Immediate Objections Before the Enforcement Judge (Article 33 of the JEL) Once the debtor is served with the notice of enforce - ment at its National Address, it enjoys a short but criti - cal window of ten working days to lodge an objection directly with the enforcement judge. The objection may be grounded on “full or partial payment, for - gery, or any other grounds”. In practice, these “other grounds” commonly include: • invalid or defective service of the originating pro - ceedings or of the judgment itself; • lack of capacity or representation in the underlying suit; • absence of proper jurisdiction of the court that issued the title; • clerical or calculation errors; and • extinction, satisfaction, prescription or novation of the debt. The judge may: • summarily reject the enforcement; • require the debtor to file a substantive lawsuit within a period not exceeding 90 working days and stay enforcement; or • grant any other form of temporary relief they con - sider appropriate. The stay can later be extended if the trial court or the enforcement judge deems it necessary. Appeal to the Enforcement Court’s Appellate Chamber (Article 38) Orders and decisions of the enforcement judge, including refusals to stay enforcement, are themselves open to appeal before a specially constituted chamber of the same court. The debtor must file a notice of appeal within ten working days of notification or actual knowledge of the order. The appellate chamber may
issues an order freezing the specified account or debt and compelling the garnishee to pay the balance into the Court treasury (Article 102) unless the garnishee shows either a prior security right or a genuine dispute as to ownership of the funds. Non-compliance is met with contempt-type penalties, including potential fines and imprisonment (Articles 105–106). 2.3 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Domestic Judgments The cost to register an enforcement case is QAR1,000. Before the case is formally registered, it is reviewed by the Preparatory Department (or Preparatory Cir - cuit), a process that may take approximately 45 to 50 days. Once the registration is completed, attachment orders are typically issued within one to two weeks. Subsequent steps – such as public sale or auction proceedings – vary depending on the nature and avail - ability of the debtor’s assets, as well as the feasibility of enforcement against them. As explained in 1.1 Options to Identify Another Par- ty’s Asset Position , the JEL provides for comprehen - sive post-judgment procedures to identify and locate a debtor’s assets. The enforcement judge is empow - ered to make electronic inquiries with banks, govern - ment authorities and other relevant entities to discover assets held by or on behalf of the judgment debtor, including real property, bank accounts, securities and movable property. These inquiries may be conducted on the judge’s own initiative or at the request of the creditor. 2.4 Post-Judgment Procedures for Determining Defendants’ Assets Entities and individuals in possession of the debtor’s assets are legally required to disclose such informa - tion and may not refuse to co-operate. The law also enables the judge to order the attachment or garnish - ment of any identified assets to satisfy the judgment. These mechanisms ensure that creditors have effec - tive means to uncover and reach the debtor’s prop - erty, even if its location or existence was not previ - ously known.
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