Decisions of the courts of the Russian Federation are executed in Belarus on the principle of reciprocity. This means that the decisions of the Russian courts are executed on the territory of Belarus in the same manner as the decisions of the Belarusian courts. To fulfill them, you do not need to go through the recognition procedure. It is enough to send the executive document issued by the court of the Russian Federation to the system of enforcement agencies. Our lawyer will advise you on the issue of the execution of the decision of the court of the Russian Federation, make an application for the initiation of enforcement proceedings, and represent your interests in enforcement proceedings.

Grounds for Recognition and Enforcement of Court Judgments in Belarus

For foreign court judgments and arbitral awards to be recognized and enforced in the Republic of Belarus, there must be a valid legal basis—either an international treaty to which Belarus is a party or the principle of reciprocity. The recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments are governed not only by Belarusian national legislation, including the Constitution, the Civil Procedure Code (CPC), and the Economic Procedure Code (EPC), but also by numerous international treaties, both multilateral and bilateral. This framework ensures that foreign judicial acts can be effectively integrated into the Belarusian legal system, provided they meet the established procedural and substantive requirements. Ambylegal assists clients in navigating these complex regulations to secure the lawful recognition and execution of foreign court decisions in Belarus.

When there is no international treaty between the Republic of Belarus and the state in which a court or arbitral decision was rendered, recognition and enforcement in Belarus may still proceed on the basis of the principle of reciprocity. This principle is explicitly established in Belarusian procedural legislation: Article 245 of the Economic Procedure Code (EPC) provides for reciprocity in economic matters, while Article 542 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) sets it out as a special principle governing civil proceedings involving foreign parties.

Reciprocity thus offers an additional legal avenue to protect rights in Belarus even in the absence of treaty obligations. Notably, the inclusion of this principle distinguishes Belarusian law from the legislation of many other states that do not recognize reciprocity, often leading to significant practical complications and unresolved legal questions. Ambylegal assists clients in leveraging this principle to enforce their rights effectively in Belarus.

Apostille and legalization of documents

These documents must be certified: apostilled or legalized at the consulate, translated into Russian or Belarusian and notarized translation.

The apostille is affixed to documents that are issued in the States parties to the Hague Convention. This is a special stamp that confirms the legal force of the document in all States parties to the convention. In particular, these are the following states: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, USA, Great Britain, Turkey, etc. Documents issued in other countries need to be legalized. Documents are legalized at the Belarusian consulate in the state where the document was issued.

Decisions of foreign courts may be submitted for enforcement within three years from the date the decision enters into legal force, unless otherwise provided by an international treaty.

If this time limit is missed, it may be restored by the court upon request, provided the reasons for the delay are deemed valid.

A foreign arbitral award submitted for enforcement under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, signed in New York on June 10, 1958, may be enforced even after the expiration of the three-year period.

PRINCIPLE OF “RECIPROCITY” IN THE RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF COURT DECISIONS

If there is no international treaty between the Republic of Belarus and the state in which the relevant court or arbitral decision was rendered, recognition and enforcement may be carried out based on the principle of reciprocity. In the Republic of Belarus, this principle is expressly established in the Economic Procedural Code (Article 245).

In the Civil Procedural Code (Article 542), the principle of reciprocity is enshrined as a special principle of civil proceedings involving foreign persons. The principle of reciprocity provides an additional opportunity to protect one’s rights in a foreign jurisdiction in the absence of a bilateral or multilateral international treaty.

It is worth noting that the presence of the reciprocity principle in Belarusian legislation distinguishes it from the laws of a number of other countries where this principle is not recognized, which naturally leads to numerous complications and unresolved legal issues.