Forwarding Court Judgments and Arbitral Awards by Way of Legal Assistance for the Purpose of Their Enforcement in a Foreign State

The article addresses the provisions of international treaties, according to which the recoverer should send the request for enforcement of a court judgment abroad to the court that rendered the judgment in the first instance, and not to the court of the state of the debtor’s location (i.e. a foreign court). The literal interpretation of these norms shows that the recoverer has no possibility to send the request to a foreign court directly, bypassing the forwarding of the judgment by way of legal assistance (except in cases where the recoverer has residence or location in the state of enforcement of the judgment). In the author’s opinion, such an interpretation contradicts to the purpose of the relevant treaties — to ensure access to the courts of the contracting countries. Therefore, if the national legislation establishes a more favourable legal regime, it should be applied.