Part First: Execution of Foreign Judgments and Documents

Article 1010

1. Foreign judgments shall not be enforced in Lebanon by means of enforcement on property or coercion against persons unless they are endowed with an enforcement formula in accordance with the conditions stipulated in this chapter. 2. However, prior to endowing the foreign judgment with an enforcement formula, it is permissible to take a probative measure or a precautionary procedure such as a precautionary real estate registration, judicial guardianship, and the bankruptcy trustee's request for debts owed to him or his intervention in bankruptcy lawsuits, as well as precautionary attachment, attachment of claims, and attachment with a third party. 3. The request for an enforcement formula takes the place of a claim for acknowledgment or a claim for debt validation.

Article 1011

Foreign judgments issued by criminal or administrative courts shall not be subject to this law unless they contain obligations of a civil nature, and as to these obligations only.

Article 1012

1. Foreign judgments related to capacity and personal status, and decisions issued by the religious judiciary, shall produce their effects in Lebanon by operation of law, without the need for an enforcement formula, provided they are not the subject of a dispute. 2. The procedures for imposing, amending, or upgrading the annotations recorded in the Lebanese personal status records shall be considered enforcement procedures within the meaning intended in Article 1010.

Article 1013

The application for the enforcement formula for a foreign judgment shall be submitted by petition to the president of the civil court of appeals within whose jurisdiction the defendant is resident or domiciled or where the property is located.

Article 1014

1. The executive formula for a foreign judgment shall be granted if the following conditions are met cumulatively: A - That it is issued by competent judges according to the law of the country in which it was issued, provided that their competence is not determined solely by the nationality of the plaintiff. In the event of the issuance of two foreign judgments in the name of two different sovereigns regarding one subject and between the same parties, the executive formula shall be granted to the judgment that is in accordance with the rules of Lebanese law for international jurisdiction. B - That it has acquired the force of res judicata and executive force in the state in whose name it was issued. However, the executive formula may be granted to provisional judgments and temporary judgments that have become enforceable in the concerned state. C - That the defendant has been notified of the lawsuit that led to the judgment and that his defensive rights have been guaranteed. D - That it is issued in the name of a state whose laws allow the execution of Lebanese judgments on its territory after verifying them or after granting them the executive formula. E - That it does not contain anything that violates public policy.

Article 1015

The Lebanese court which receives the application for the enforcement formula for a foreign judgment may not reconsider the merits of the foreign judgment upon the request of the defendant except in one of the following cases: 1. If the judgment was rendered in default. 2. If it was rendered in violation of the rules governing the jurisdiction of courts. 3. If it is contrary to morals or public policy. 4. If similar protection is not granted in the country where the judgment was rendered to judgments of Lebanese courts.

Article 1016

Lebanese courts must refuse the executive formula in the following cases: 1 - If a final judgment has been issued by the Lebanese judiciary regarding the same dispute that led to the issuance of the foreign judgment, between the same parties. 2 - If a lawsuit regarding the same dispute and between the same litigants, which was filed at a date prior to the lawsuit associated with the foreign judgment, is still pending before the Lebanese judiciary.

Article 1017

The party requesting that a foreign judgment be given the enforcement formula must present: A. An authenticated copy of the foreign judgment conforming to the requirements that prove its validity according to the law of the country where it was rendered. B. Proof of proper notification or service of the complaint. C. A certificate from the competent authority in the foreign country that the judgment is final and enforceable.

Article 1018

The court may grant an executory formula to the judgment in its entirety or to a separable part thereof, provided that this part is separable from the other parts, and it may not introduce any amendment that would expand its scope, whether with regard to the subject matter or with regard to the parties.

Article 1019

It is permissible, during the consideration of the request for the executive formula, to submit what has occurred after the issuance of the foreign judgment of grounds and means of defense.

Article 1020

The Lebanese judge, while examining a case presented to him, may give effect to a foreign judgment when invoked by him if the conditions set forth in Articles 1014 and 1015 are satisfied.

Article 1021

The provisions of this Chapter shall apply to lawsuits aiming to declare the non-applicability of foreign judgments, whether submitted directly or in the course of a pending lawsuit before the Lebanese courts.

Article 1022

1. A foreign judgment that has acquired an enforcement form shall have the same enforcement power as Lebanese judgments and shall be subject to the methods of enforcement of these judgments.