CONCERNED, IT IS NOT THE AIM OF THE CONVENTION TO DEROGATE FROM THE RULES WHICH APPLY UNDER THE DOMESTIC LAW OF THE COURT BEFORE WHICH THE ACTION HAS BEEN BROUGHT .
17 IT FOLLOWS THAT THE CONVENTION DOES NOT PRECLUDE THE COURT OF THE STATE IN WHICH ENFORCEMENT IS SOUGHT FROM DRAWING THE NECESSARY INFERENCES FROM A NATIONAL DECREE OF DIVORCE WHEN CONSIDERING THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE FOREIGN MAINTENANCE ORDER .
18 THUS THE ANSWER TO BE GIVEN TO THE NATIONAL COURT IS THAT A FOREIGN JUDGMENT WHOSE ENFORCEMENT HAS BEEN ORDERED IN A CONTRACTING STATE PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 31 OF THE CONVENTION AND WHICH REMAINS ENFORCEABLE IN THE STATE IN WHICH IT WAS GIVEN MUST NOT CONTINUE TO BE ENFORCED IN THE STATE WHERE ENFORCEMENT IS SOUGHT WHEN, UNDER THE LAW OF THE LATTER STATE, IT CEASES TO BE ENFORCEABLE FOR REASONS WHICH LIE OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF THE CONVENTION .
19 THE NATIONAL COURT' S THIRD QUESTION SEEKS, IN ESSENCE, TO ESTABLISH WHETHER A FOREIGN JUDGMENT ORDERING A PERSON TO MAKE MAINTENANCE PAYMENTS TO HIS SPOUSE BY VIRTUE OF HIS CONJUGAL OBLIGATIONS TO SUPPORT HER IS IRRECONCILABLE WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 27 ( 3 ) OF THE CONVENTION WITH A NATIONAL JUDGMENT PRONOUNCING THE DIVORCE OF THE SPOUSES OR, ALTERNATIVELY, WHETHER SUCH A FOREIGN JUDGMENT IS CONTRARY TO PUBLIC POLICY IN THE STATE IN WHICH RECOGNITION IS SOUGHT WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 27 ( 1 ).
20 THE PROVISIONS TO BE INTERPRETED SET OUT THE GROUNDS FOR NOT RECOGNIZING FOREIGN JUDGMENTS . UNDER THE SECOND PARAGRAPH OF ARTICLE 34, AN ENFORCEMENT ORDER MAY BE REFUSED FOR THOSE SAME REASONS .
21 AS FAR AS THE SECOND PART OF THE THIRD QUESTION IS CONCERNED, IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT, ACCORDING TO THE SCHEME OF THE CONVENTION, USE OF THE PUBLIC-POLICY CLAUSE, WHICH "OUGHT TO OPERATE ONLY IN EXCEPTIONAL CASES" ( JENARD REPORT, CITED ABOVE, AT P . 44 ) IS IN ANY EVENT PRECLUDED WHEN, AS HERE, THE ISSUE IS WHETHER A FOREIGN JUDGMENT IS COMPATIBLE WITH A NATIONAL JUDGMENT; THE ISSUE MUST BE RESOLVED ON THE BASIS OF THE SPECIFIC PROVISION UNDER ARTICLE 27 ( 3 ), WHICH ENVISAGES CASES IN WHICH THE FOREIGN JUDGMENT IS IRRECONCILABLE WITH A JUDGMENT GIVEN IN A DISPUTE BETWEEN THE SAME PARTIES IN THE STATE IN WHICH ENFORCEMENT IS SOUGHT .
22 IN ORDER TO ASCERTAIN WHETHER THE TWO JUDGMENTS ARE IRRECONCILABLE WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 27 ( 3 ), IT SHOULD BE EXAMINED WHETHER THEY ENTAIL LEGAL CONSEQUENCES THAT ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE .
23 IT IS APPARENT FROM THE DOCUMENTS BEFORE THE COURT THAT, IN THE PRESENT CASE, THE ORDER FOR ENFORCEMENT OF THE FOREIGN MAINTENANCE ORDER WAS ISSUED AT A TIME WHEN THE NATIONAL DECREE OF DIVORCE HAD ALREADY BEEN GRANTED AND HAD ACQUIRED THE FORCE OF RES JUDICATA, AND THAT THE MAIN PROCEEDINGS ARE CONCERNED WITH THE PERIOD FOLLOWING THE DIVORCE .
24 THAT BEING SO, THE JUDGMENTS AT ISSUE HAVE LEGAL CONSEQUENCES WHICH ARE MUTUALLY