BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Dominique Blommaert, Jens Benoot, Fryderyk de Peslin Lachert and Lydie Van Muylem, Janson
• enforcement or execution would be contrary to Belgian international public policy; and • the award was obtained by fraud. Important to note is that arbitral awards that are not (yet) recognised may still serve as an authorisation for a conservatory attachment. 4.4 Process of Enforcing Arbitral Awards Arbitral awards can only be enforced in Belgium after recognition by a Belgian court granting them the exe - quatur (Article 1720 of the BJC). This applies to both domestic and international awards. The main features of the procedures are the following. • The petition for recognition and enforcement is brought to the court of first instance of the seat of arbitration (for domestic awards) and of the domicile of the defendant or, in the absence of any domicile in Belgium, of the place where enforce - ment will be sought (for foreign awards). • The proceedings are conducted ex parte. • The applicant must present an original copy of the arbitral award (hand signed by the arbitrators or via a qualified electronic signature), or a certified copy. • Exequatur may only be refused by the court on limited grounds listed in Article 1721 of the BJC or applicable international conventions (see 4.3 Cat- egories of Arbitral Awards Not Enforced ). • The exequatur order must be served to the person against whom enforcement is sought on initiative of the applicant. • This party has one month after service to file third- party opposition against the exequatur order. • The judgment refusing recognition or deciding on the third-party opposition can be appealed before the Supreme Court ( Hof van CassatieCour de cas- sation ), but only in relation to matters of law. 4.5 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Arbitral Awards Costs The costs for obtaining an exequatur order of an arbi - tral award are typically the following: • cost of translation of the arbitral award (in French or Dutch);
• court fees, which currently amount to EUR165, and a contribution to the budgetary fund for judicial assistance of EUR24; and • specific cost relating to the exequatur order, which is calculated on the number of pages of the exequatur order. If the award condemns the unsuccessful party to pay a sum of money in excess of EUR12,500, a tax of 3% is payable by the defeated party, calculated on the amount of the conviction. Once the exequatur order has been issued, the costs for enforcement of the arbitral award are identical to those of a judgment (see 2.3 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Domestic Judgments ). Time When the exequatur order is not challenged, the arbi - tral award can be enforced in a matter of a few weeks. Depending on the nature of the objection against an arbitral award, the length of the exequatur proceed - ings may vary. 4.6 Challenging Enforcement of Arbitral Awards A party may challenge enforcement of an arbitral award in Belgium at four different stages. Appeal The arbitral award may only be appealed if provided for in the arbitration agreement (Article 1716 of the BCJ). Setting Aside Within three months from the notification of the (defini - tive) Belgian arbitral award, the parties may ask for its setting aside before the court of first instance of the seat of arbitration. Article 1717, Section 3 of the BJC provides for an exhaustive list of grounds following which an arbitral award can be set aside. This list is predominantly inspired by Article 34 (2) of the UNCITRAL Model Law, and is comparable with the grounds to refuse an enforcement:
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