Enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards in Uzbekistan (Ryskiyeva & Partners Law Firm)
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Enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards in Uzbekistan
The right to judicial protection, including participants of international trade activity, is recognized and guaranteed by the Constitution and other laws of Uzbekistan, as well as generally recognized principles and norms of international law, international treaties of Uzbekistan.
This article will discuss the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards in Uzbekistan on business related disputes.
This issue is regulated by the Economic Procedure Code of Uzbekistan (hereinafter - the EPC), as well as the following international agreements and conventions to which the Republic of Uzbekistan is a party:
l United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, signed on June 10, 1958 in New York, USA (hereinafter - the New York Convention);
l Agreement on Procedure for Resolving Disputes Related to the Implementation of Economic Activities, signed on March 20, 1992 in Kyiv, Ukraine (hereinafter - the Kiev Agreement);
l Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Matters, signed on January 22, 1993 in Minsk, Belarus (hereinafter - the Minsk Convention);
l Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Matters, signed on October 7, 2002 in Chisinau, Moldova (hereinafter - the Chisinau Convention).
Under the Uzbek law, a foreign court is a state body exercising judicial power, and an arbitration is an arbitration tribunal appointed for each individual case and a permanent arbitration body.
Foreign judgments and arbitral awards on business related disputes may be recognized and enforced in Uzbekistan, if the recognition and enforcement of such decisions is provided for by an international treaty and laws of Uzbekistan. Only a judicial act that has entered into legal force, adopted based on the results of the case consideration, shall be recognized enforced.
Foreign judgments and arbitral awards may be filed for recognition and enforcement within 3 (three) years from the date of their entry into force (unless another period is provided for by an international treaty of Uzbekistan). The power to recognize and enforce foreign judgments and arbitral awards in Uzbekistan is vested in economic courts.
Only the party to the dispute, which won the case, is entitled to file an application to the Uzbek economic court. An application (petition) for recognition and enforcement of the foreign judgment or arbitral award is filed by the applicant to the Economic Court of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, regional and Tashkent city courts at the location (legal address) or place of residence of the debtor or, if the location or place of residence of the debtor is unknown, at the place of state registration of the debtor.
If the foreign judgment or arbitral award concerns the debt collection from an Uzbek debtor, before applying to the Uzbek economic court, the applicant is strongly advised to check whether the debtor is an active and solvent entity (enterprise), whether the debtor has an active business, vehicles and/or real estate, etc., which can be used to collect debts. These pre-trial checks can be done through official sources of information in Uzbekistan and/or by written petition to the government bodies of Uzbekistan. If you do not conduct a preliminary (pre-trial) check of the debtor's status, then after obtaining a positive decision (ruling) of the Uzbek economic court on recognition and enforcement of a foreign judgment or arbitral award, the real enforcement of such a court ruling in Uzbekistan may be very difficult due to the lack of funds and/or property of the debtor, or the fact that the debtor is in a state of bankruptcy, inactive or liquidated.
The petition shall be filed to the Uzbek court in writing, in Uzbek or Russian language, and shall be signed by the applicant (it general manager, director, president) or its official representative (for example, an authorized employee of the company or engaged external lawyer or attorney under a power of attorney).
The petition shall include:
1) name of the Uzbek economic court to which the petition is submitted;
2) name and location of the foreign court or arbitration and its members that made the decision;
3) full name of persons (representatives) participating in the case, their location (mailing address) or place of residence (i.e. details of the parties to the dispute);
4) information about foreign judgment or arbitral award, recognition and enforcement of which the applicant is petitioning;
5) the applicant's petition for recognition and enforcement of the foreign judgment or arbitral award;
6) a list of the enclosed documents.
The petition may also include telephone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail address of the applicant or his representative by proxy.
The following documents shall be enclosed to the petition to the Uzbek court:
** The amount of state duty and postal rates is:
State duty: 2 times the Base Calculation Indicator (BCU), i.e. 750,000 sum (approximately 58 US dollars);
Postage expenses: 10% of 1 BCU, i.e. 37,500 sum (approximately 3 US dollars).
The Economic Court of Uzbekistan is entitled to return the petition and documents if, when deciding on the acceptance of this petition for proceedings, the Uzbek court finds that the petition was filed in violation of the above procedures and requirements. After eliminating the circumstances that served as the basis for returning the petition, the applicant is entitled to reapply to the Economic Court of Uzbekistan with a new petition.
Cases on recognition and enforcement of foreign judgment are considered by economic courts on the basis of the Kyiv Agreement, the Minsk, Chisinau Convention and international treaties on legal assistance concluded between Uzbekistan and foreign countries. It should be noted that these agreements and conventions, as well as international treaties of Uzbekistan on legal assistance, apply to judicial acts of countries that are parties to them.
If the petition was filed for recognition and enforcement of a foreign judgment that is not a party to the Kyiv Agreement, the Chisinau or Minsk Conventions, or with which Uzbekistan has not concluded an international treaty on legal assistance, the Uzbek court will refuse to accept the petition. If this circumstance is established by the Uzbek court after the petition has been accepted for proceedings, the proceedings on the case will be terminated.
Cases on recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral award are considered by Uzbek economic courts on the basis of the New York Convention. According to Article 4 of this Convention, the petitioning party shall file to the Uzbek court a duly certified original arbitral award or its duly certified copy. If the arbitral award or agreement is set out in a foreign language, the petitioning party shall provide to the court a translation of these documents into Uzbek language.
When considering the petition, the Uzbek court shall notify the parties to the case of the trial time and place. The petition shall be considered by the economic court within 6 (six) months from the date of its receipt by the Uzbek court. At the same time, the Uzbek courts are not entitled to review the merits, change or cancel the decision of a foreign court or arbitration.
When considering a petition, the Economic Court of Uzbekistan shall take measures to establish the legal status of parties to the dispute. The legal status of a foreign legal entity shall be determined by the law of the country where the legal entity has been established (i.e. registered or has its main location). The legal status of a foreign individual shall be determined by the law of the country of citizenship or in which he permanently resides (stateless person). At the same time, the legal status of a foreign individual - sole entrepreneur shall be determined by the legislation of the country where he is registered as a sole entrepreneur.
As a general rule, the legal status of a foreign legal entity is confirmed by a legalized (apostilled) extract from the trade (company) register of the country of incorporation or other equivalent evidence of legal status recognized as such by the legislation of the country of incorporation. Legalization (apostille) of documents of foreign companies registered (established) in the countries participating in the Minsk Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Cases (Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Moldova, Georgia, etc.) is not required.
When assessing provided documents, the Uzbek court shall check compliance of the data on persons indicated in the extract from trade (company) register as managers or having authority to sign, with details of the person who signed the claim, application (petition), complaint or issued the power of attorney.
Uzbek court’s refusal on recognition and enforcement of foreign rulings
*** For example, the exclusive competence of the Uzbek economic courts includes cases involving foreign persons (entities) on disputes:
1) in relation to property owned by the Republic of Uzbekistan, including disputes related to the denationalization and privatization of state property and seizure of property for public needs;
2) on real estate, if such property is located in Uzbekistan, or rights to it.
Unlike above-mentioned grounds for refusal established in the EPC, it is important to note that the Uzbek court is entitled to refuse satisfaction of a petition for recognition and enforcement of a foreign judgment only if there are grounds provided for in Article 9 of the Kyiv Agreement, Article 55 of the Minsk Convention, Article 59 of the Chisinau Convention and bilateral treaties of Uzbekistan. The list of grounds for refusing on satisfaction of petitions provided for in these international treaties is exhaustive.
Based on the petition review results, the Uzbek Economic Court shall issue a decision in the form of a «ruling». The court's ruling may be appealed (contested) in accordance with the EPC provisions. Execution of a foreign judgment in Uzbekistan shall be carried out on the basis of a writ of execution issued by the Uzbek Economic Court that issued the ruling. If the decision of a foreign court or arbitration tribunal was partially executed, the Uzbek court shall issue a writ of execution for the unexecuted part of the decision of the foreign court or arbitration tribunal.
A writ of execution under a foreign judgment or arbitral award may be presented for mandatory execution within 3 (three) years from the date of their entry into force (unless another period is provided for by an international treaty of Uzbekistan). Mandatory execution of a writ of execution shall be carried out by territorial offices of the Bureau of Compulsory Enforcement (BCE) under the Prosecutor General's Office of Uzbekistan.
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