Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Court Decisions in Serbia
Imagine you got divorced abroad, say in Germany, and now you wish to register the fact of divorce in the civil registry in Serbia. Or, as a businessperson, you concluded a sales contract with a jurisdiction clause in favour of an Italian court, which issued a judgment in your favour — but the debtor has assets in Serbia, so you need to enforce the judgment here. What now? In both cases — and in many similar ones — the question arises of recognising and enforcing a foreign court decision in the Republic of Serbia. How can a foreign decision be “enabled” to have legal effect in Serbia? What are the conditions for recognition, and when will a court refuse it? This article provides answers to these questions and guides you through the rules and procedures applicable in the Serbian legal system.
- I. The Concept and Importance of Recognition of a Foreign Decision
By recognising a foreign decision, it is equated with a domestic one and acquires the ability to produce legal effect on our territory. Before being recognised, such a decision in the Republic of Serbia represents nothing more than a “dead letter” with no legal effect whatsoever.
Pursuant to Article 86 of the Act on Resolving Conflicts of Laws with the Regulations of Other Countries, which governs this matter (this is the law regulating private international law in Serbia), the subject of recognition includes foreign court decisions, settlements concluded before foreign courts, and decisions of other authorities which, in the country in which they were issued, are equated with court decisions or court settlements.
The eligibility of a decision to be subject to recognition is not determined solely by its judicial nature, but also by the nature of the matter in which it was rendered. In this sense, only decisions regulating status, family, property, and other substantive legal relations with an international element may be recognised.
- II. Conditions for the Recognition of Foreign Court Decisions
A positive condition for the recognition of a foreign court decision is that it has become final and binding under the law of the country in which it was rendered. Fulfilment of this condition is proven by submitting a certificate of finality issued by the competent foreign court or other issuing authority. The certificate may take the form of a separate document; however, it is sufficient if the decision itself contains a statement confirming that it has become final, accompanied by the stamp of the authority providing such confirmation.
Other conditions for the recognition of a foreign court decision are defined negatively, as obstacles whose existence would lead to the rejection of the application for recognition of the foreign court decision.
The first reason why the court will refuse to recognise a foreign decision is the violation of the right of defence of the person against whom the decision was rendered, who was prevented from participating in the proceedings before the foreign court due to procedural irregularities. In particular, it is considered that the person against whom the foreign court decision was rendered was unable to participate in the proceedings because the summons, statement of claim, or the decision initiating the proceedings was not personally served, or because no attempt at personal service was made at all — unless the person participated in the discussion on the merits in the first-instance proceedings in any manner. The existence of this obstacle to recognition will be considered by the court in Serbia only upon the objection of the person whose right of defence was violated, while all other obstacles are considered ex officio.
The second obstacle is the existence of the exclusive jurisdiction of a domestic court or other authority of our state for conducting proceedings and deciding on the matter in question. Exclusive jurisdiction must be expressly provided by law. Thus, for example, the courts of the Republic of Serbia have exclusive jurisdiction in disputes concerning ownership rights and other real estate rights if the property is located on the territory of the Republic of Serbia. However, there is an exception where the exclusive jurisdiction of the Serbian court will not be an obstacle to recognition — in situations where the defendant seeks recognition of a foreign court decision rendered in a matrimonial dispute, or where the claimant seeks recognition and the defendant does not object.
The recognition of a foreign court decision will also be refused if a final decision on the same matter has already been rendered by a domestic court or another authority. Furthermore, the request for recognition will be rejected if another foreign court decision rendered in the same matter has already been recognised in the Republic of Serbia.
The incompatibility of the foreign court decision with the fundamental principles of the constitutional order of the Republic of Serbia represents another obstacle to recognition.
Finally, a foreign court decision will not be recognised if reciprocity does not exist. The existence of reciprocity is presumed until proven otherwise, and in case of doubt, an explanation is provided by the Ministry of Justice. However, even the absence of reciprocity is not an absolute obstacle to recognition, provided that the foreign court decision concerns a matrimonial dispute or a dispute on the establishment or contestation of paternity or maternity, or if the recognition or enforcement of the foreign court decision is requested by a Serbian national.
- III. Procedure for the Recognition of a Foreign Court Decision
The procedure is initiated by a request for recognition submitted by an authorised applicant. The request is decided in non-contentious proceedings conducted before the higher court (for decisions rendered in civil matters) or the commercial court (for decisions rendered in commercial matters). The territorially competent court is the one in whose jurisdiction the recognition procedure is to be carried out (thus, for example, in deciding on the recognition of a foreign divorce judgment, territorial jurisdiction would be determined by the location of the registry office keeping the civil records of the applicant). Since the law does not prescribe special rules for this procedure, the general rules of non-contentious proceedings apply, with appropriate application of the rules of civil procedure.
Along with the request for recognition, in addition to the original or certified copy of the foreign court decision and the certificate confirming its finality under the law of the country in which it was rendered, the applicant must submit an official translation of the decision prepared by a certified court interpreter, a certificate of citizenship, an excerpt from the register of births (legal entities, of course, submit an extract from the business register or another appropriate document), as well as proof of payment of court fees. Naturally, before submitting the request itself, it is necessary to check the practice of the specific court to which the request is being submitted, due to minor differences between them regarding the required attachments, the number of document copies, and similar details. It should also be borne in mind that certain courts require the translation of the judgment to be made by an interpreter specifically certified for the jurisdiction of that particular court — a practice we consider to be legally unfounded and detrimental to the interests of the applicant.
In the relevant procedure, the court is limited to examining the legal conditions for recognition, as discussed in the previous section of this article. The procedure concludes with the issuance of a decision either recognising the foreign court decision or rejecting its recognition. An appeal against the decision may be lodged within 15 days from the date of its delivery. The appeal is decided by the appellate court or, in commercial matters, by the Commercial Appellate Court.
Specific features and certain deviations from the aforementioned rules arise in situations where the recognition of a foreign court decision is decided as a preliminary issue, which will be addressed in the next section.
- IV. Enforcement of a Foreign Court Decision
The Enforcement and Security Act regulates the enforcement of a foreign enforceable instrument. It is enforced in the same manner as a domestic enforceable instrument if it concerns a private-law claim and has been recognised by a domestic court.
However, the aforementioned Act also allows the enforcement creditor to submit a motion for enforcement of a foreign enforceable instrument that has not previously been recognised by a domestic court. In such a case, the court competent to conduct enforcement proceedings (the basic or commercial court) will decide on the recognition of the foreign enforceable instrument as a preliminary issue, with the effect of the decision limited to that particular proceeding. A specific feature of this mode of enforcement, confirmed in court practice, lies in the obligation of the enforcement court to submit the motion for enforcement to the enforcement debtor for comment, within a time limit of 8 days, as dictated by the principle of urgency governing enforcement proceedings.
In their response, the enforcement debtor has the opportunity to express their position on the existence or non-existence of the conditions for the recognition of the foreign decision, which the enforcement court is, in any case, obliged to determine. Moreover, the decision on enforcement may be challenged by appeal on the grounds that the legal requirements for the recognition of the foreign enforceable instrument were not met. After the enforcement debtor submits their response and the court establishes that the conditions for recognising the foreign court decision are fulfilled and that the instrument is suitable for granting the motion for enforcement, the court issues a decision on enforcement based on the foreign enforceable instrument. Naturally, a necessary condition for the enforcement of a foreign enforceable instrument, in all cases, is that it is accompanied by a certificate of enforceability under the law of the state in which it was rendered.
Published: 14. April 2025
Author: Jovica Hloda, attorney at law in Novi Sad, Serbia
