SERBIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Aleksandar Ristić and Stefan Šilobad, Law Office Miroslav Stojanović
3.4 Process of Enforcing Foreign Judgments In principle, recognition of foreign court judgments in Serbia may be sought pursuant to either: • the LRCL, which foresees standalone non-conten - tious court proceedings in which the recognition of a foreign judgment is the main subject of the proceedings; or • the LES, which allows the court to consider the matter of recognition of a foreign court judgment as a preliminary issue within enforcement proceed - ings. The main difference between these two options is the fact that recognition of a foreign court judgment that is performed in the course of enforcement proceedings has limited legal effect – ie, it produces legal effect only in those specific enforcement proceedings in which it was addressed as a preliminary issue. By contrast, a foreign court judgment that is recognised in standalone non-contentious proceedings (in which the matter of its recognition was the main subject of the proceedings) has full legal effect under Serbian law. Recognition in Standalone Non-Contentious Proceedings The LRCL provides that a party may submit a request for the recognition of a foreign court judgment before a competent Serbian court if such request is sup - ported by: • the relevant foreign court decision; • a confirmation on its finality under the laws of its origin country, issued by the competent authority (eg, court or other authority); and • certified translations of these documents into the Serbian language, prepared by a court-sworn translator. Upon receipt, the court generally serves the recog - nition request to the other party, who may formally respond to it. In any case, the component Serbian court will consider the recognition request in light of the requirements set out in the LRCL – ie, it will assess whether there are any grounds for refusal of recogni - tion as listed in 3.3 Categories of Foreign Judgments
Not Enforced , after which it will decide by way of a ruling. Once a ruling is adopted, the parties are authorised to lodge an appeal against it through the first-instance court within 15 days of the receipt of such ruling. If an appeal is indeed lodged, it will be served to the other party, which may then provide a formal response to such appeal within the next 15 days. According to the LNP, an appeal shall generally stay a decision on recognition (ie, it will not become final) and therefore also the enforcement of the relevant foreign judgment. Once the decision on recognition of the foreign judgment becomes final, further proceedings for enforcement of such judgment may then be pursued in accordance with the procedure explained in 2.2 Enforcement of Domestic Judgments . Recognition as a Preliminary Issue in Enforcement Proceedings As an alternative to the aforementioned approach, the LES foresees that the recognition of a foreign judg - ment may also be addressed directly in enforcement proceedings, as a preliminary issue. Specifically, Article 46 of the LES allows the instiga - tion of enforcement proceedings on the basis of a foreign enforceable title (ie, a foreign court judgment), even if standalone court proceedings for its recogni - tion have not been previously conducted in Serbia. In that respect, the court competent to preside over the enforcement proceedings may also decide on the recognition of the relevant foreign court judgment as a preliminary, threshold matter – ie, it would also decide whether the terms for its recognition have been met. The enforcement proceedings themselves are insti - gated by submitting a motion for enforcement, which contains mandatory elements prescribed under the LES, along with: • the foreign court decision, in original or certified copy; • a confirmation on its finality and enforceability under the laws of its origin country, issued by the competent authority (eg, court or other authority); and
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