Foreign Judgment as Object of Recognition and Enforcement in the Russian Federation

Abstract

Recognition and enforcement of foreign courts decisions is an important guarantee of protection of the rights and legitimate interests of individuals and legal entities and a necessary part of an effective system of international legal cooperation. In the mechanism of legal regulation of cross-border turnover of judicial acts, one of the main issues is the definition of the object of recognition and enforcement. In Russia, the range of decisions subject to recognition and enforcement is defined in international treaties of the Russian Federation, which provides for such recognition and enforcement, while in the case of recognition of decisions that do not require enforcement — also in Federal laws of the Russian Federation. The aim of the study is to analyze the Treaty rules that determine which foreign judgments are subject to recognition and enforcement in the territory of the Russian Federation, to identify controversial issues in the practice of their application by courts, to find ways to improve Treaty rules, to achieve uniformity in the understanding of their courts. The article analyzes the provisions of the Minsk Convention of the Commonwealth of Independent States (1993), the Kiev agreement of these countries (1992), bilateral treaties of the Russian Federation on legal assistance (more than thirty of them) and other treaties providing for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, Russian legislation and law enforcement practice. Modern trends in the regulation of these relations are taken into account, in particular: the materials of the Hague Convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in civil and commercial cases (2019) are used. The range of foreign judgments subject to recognition and enforcement is determined by different vectors, taking into account the specific characteristics of judicial acts and proceedings in which they are adopted. A foreign judgment as an object of recognition and enforcement is considered from the point of view, firstly, of the nature of the case on which the decision was made (civil, family, labor or a separate category of civil cases), secondly, of the body that made the decision (state court or other body), and thirdly, of the procedural form (decision, determination, order).