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Enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards in Uzbekistan

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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:

  1. 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);
  2. 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);
  3. 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);
  4. 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:

On foreign judgments

On foreign arbitral awards

1) a foreign judgment, or a copy thereof, certified by the competent authority of a foreign state or Uzbekistan;

2) an official document that confirms the foreign judgment has become effective, unless this follows from the text of the foreign judgment itself;

3) a document confirming partial execution of the foreign judgment, if it was previously executed in the relevant foreign country;

4) a document from which it follows that the party against whom the foreign judgment was made and who did not participate in the trial (litigation) was promptly and duly notified of the time and place of the hearing;

5) a power of attorney or other document certifying the authority of the representative (order for the director, etc.). If applicable, legalization or apostille of the power of attorney is required;

6) a postal document confirming that the applicant has sent to the debtor a copy of the application (petition) for recognition and enforcement of the foreign judgment;

7) documents (receipts, payment orders) confirming payment of the state fee and postal expenses to the Uzbek court by the applicant **;

8) a notarized translation of the documents specified in paragraphs 1-5 above into Uzbek or Russian language.

1) a foreign arbitral award or a copy thereof, certified by the competent authority of a foreign state or Uzbekistan;

2) original agreement on arbitration proceedings or a copy thereof, certified by the competent authority of a foreign state or Uzbekistan;

3) a document confirming partial execution of the arbitral award, if it was previously executed in the relevant foreign country;

4) a document from which it follows that the party against whom the arbitral award was made and which did not participate in the proceedings was promptly and duly notified of the time and place of the hearing;

5) a power of attorney or other document certifying the authority of the representative (order for the director, etc.). If applicable, legalization or apostille of the power of attorney is required;

6) a postal document confirming that the applicant has sent to the debtor a copy of the application (petition) for recognition and enforcement of the foreign arbitral award;

7) documents (receipts, payment orders) confirming payment of the state fee and postal expenses to the Uzbek court by the applicant **;

8) a notarized translation of the documents specified in paragraphs 1-5 above into Uzbek or Russian language.

** 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

On foreign judgments

On foreign arbitral awards

The Economic Court of Uzbekistan shall reject to recognize and enforce a foreign judgment in whole or in part if:

1) the judgment has not entered into legal force under the law of the country in whose territory it was made, except for cases where the foreign judgment is subject to execution before it enters into legal force;

2) the party against whom the foreign judgment was made was not promptly and properly notified of the hearing time and place or, for other reasons, could not provide its explanations to the court;

3) case consideration in accordance with an international treaty or laws of Uzbekistan falls within the exclusive competence of the Uzbek court***;

4) there is a judgment of the Uzbek court that has entered into legal force, made on a dispute between the same parties, on the same subject and same grounds;

5) there is a pending case at the Uzbek court on a dispute between the same parties, on the same subject and same grounds, the proceedings on which were initiated before initiation of proceedings on the case in a foreign court;

6) the 3 (three) year limitation period for enforcing a foreign judgment has expired and this period has not been restored by the court;

7) the party (debtor) has provided evidence that the dispute was resolved by an incompetent foreign court;

8) the foreign judgment was canceled by a competent authority of a foreign state;

9) the judgment was made by a court of a foreign state that is not a party to international treaties of Uzbekistan on recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments (for example, a court judgment of a foreign state 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 provision of legal assistance);

10) enforcement of foreign judgment would damage the sovereignty, security or contradict the basic principles of Uzbek law.

Recognition and enforcement of a foreign judgment may also be rejected on other grounds provided for by an international treaty of Uzbekistan.

The Economic Court of Uzbekistan shall refuse to recognize and enforce a foreign arbitral award upon application of the party against whom it is directed, if that party provides evidence that:

1) the parties to arbitration agreement were incapacitated to some extent under their applicable law, or arbitration agreement is invalid under the applicable law selected by the parties, and in the absence of such indication, under the law of country where the award was made;

2) the party against whom the award was made was not properly notified of arbitrator appointment or arbitration proceedings or for other reasons was unable to provide its explanations;

3) the arbitral award relates to a dispute not contemplated by or falling within the terms of arbitration agreement or arbitration clause in the contract, or contains rulings on matters outside the scope of arbitration agreement or arbitration clause in the contract, except where rulings on matters covered by the arbitration agreement or clause can be separated from those not covered by such agreement or clause;

4) composition of arbitral tribunal or arbitral procedure was not in accordance with the parties’ agreement or, failing such agreement, was not in accordance with the law of country where the arbitration took place;

5) the award was not binding on parties or was set aside or suspended by a competent authority of the country where it was made or of the country whose law is applicable;

6) the dispute was resolved by an incompetent foreign arbitral tribunal.

Recognition and enforcement of a foreign arbitral award may also be rejected if:

1) dispute subject cannot be the subject of arbitration proceedings under the Uzbek law;

2) recognition and enforcement of this award would contradict or threaten the public order of Uzbekistan;

3) the 3 (three) year limitation period for enforcing the foreign arbitral award has expired.

 

 

*** 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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