Source: https://library.iccwbo.org/content/dr/COUNTRY_ANSWERS/CA_SUPP_0029_59.htm?l1=Country+Answers&l2=Qatar
Timestamp: 2019-09-23 07:57:40
Document Index: 286031826

Matched Legal Cases: ['Art. 87', 'Art. 415', 'Art. 379', 'Art. 379', 'Art. 365', 'Art. 1', 'Art. 1', 'Art. 363', 'Art. 68', 'Art. 16', 'Art. 380', 'Art. 208', 'Art. 121', 'Art. 59', 'Art. 380']

The Convention was transposed into domestic law on 15 Mar. 2003. According to UNCITRAL, it came into force on 30 Mar. 2003.
(Sources: Decree No. 29 of 2003, 15 Mar. 2003; www.uncitral.org.)
In Qatar, the recognition of foreign awards and the requirements for their enforcement are regulated by specific provisions in Law No. 13 of 1990 (Civil Procedure Code). Enforcement proceedings are regulated by the general provisions on the execution of judgments in the same Code.
For commercial awards, the limitation period would appear to be 10 years pursuant to Art. 87 of Law No. 27 of 2006 (Commercial Code). For all other awards, the limitation period would appear to be 15 years pursuant to Art. 415/2 of Law No. 22 of 2004 (Civil Code). In both cases, the limitation period runs from the date of issuance of the award.
According to Art. 379 of the Civil Procedure Code, the Plenary Execution Court has jurisdiction over recognition and enforcement of foreign awards.
The Civil Procedure Code does not lay down any jurisdictional requirements; however, it is common practice for the award creditor to demonstrate, for enforcement purposes, that the debtor is domiciled in Qatar or its assets are located in Qatar.
Under Art. 379 of the Civil Procedure Code, enforcement proceedings are initiated by the service of a summons on the award debtor as when filing a legal action. Accordingly, the court fixes hearings for both parties to attend and exchange submissions.
Yes, pursuant to Art. 365 of the Civil Procedure Code, the decisions of the Execution Court are reviewable.
The decision granting or denying recognition and enforcement of a foreign award can be reviewed by the Qatari Court of Appeal. Further, under Art. 1 of Law No. 12 of 2005 on appeals before the Court of Cassation in non-criminal matters, decisions of the Court of Appeal can be challenged before the Court of Cassation (Qatar's supreme court), subject to the conditions set out in Art. 1 of the aforementioned law.
Art. 363 of the Civil Procedure Code provides that the execution of judgments/awards must be carried out under the control and supervision of the execution judge.
After the award has been granted exequatur, execution proceedings take place under the control and supervision of the Execution Court and include execution against assets, whether voluntarily (i.e. with the debtor's consent) or mandatorily pursuant to the provisions of the Civil Procedure Code (e.g. attaching assets and selling them through a public auction).
The following documents must be produced for recognition and enforcement of foreign award: (i) the arbitral award; (ii) a certificate issued by the relevant authority in the foreign country where the award was issued, stating that the award is final and irrevocable; (iii) the arbitration agreement.
Further, the award and the certificate stating the finality of the award must be notarized by the Qatari embassy in the foreign country and attested by the ministry of foreign affairs in Qatar.
The complete award must be submitted. As for the arbitration agreement, if it is a compromis the entire agreement must be produced; if an arbitration clause, normal practice is to produce the entire contract containing the clause.
There is no specific provision in the Civil Procedure Code. In practice, either the original or a duly certified copy of the award and the certificate stating the finality of the award will be accepted, subject to fulfilment of the notarization requirements mentioned in Q.12(a) above. A copy of the arbitration agreement suffices.
Only one original or certified copy is required.
Yes. However, either party may apply to the court to retrieve the original documents after the case has been finally decided and the time limit for bringing an appeal has expired.
Yes, if the documents are in a language other than Arabic.
(Source: Civil Procedure Code, Art. 68; Law No. 10 of 2003 on the judicial authority, Art. 16.)
Yes, by any of the translation offices located in Qatar and accredited by the Qatar courts.
It is necessary to submit a translation of the complete award and the relevant arbitration clause/agreement. It is standard practice to submit a translation of the entire contract containing the arbitration clause.
Under Art. 380/3 of the Civil Procedure Code, the court will refuse to enforce the foreign award if it is not established that the award has become final and res judicata in accordance with the laws of the country where it was rendered.
In case the judgment debtor files an annulment action seeking to set aside the arbitral award due to, e.g., violating a public policy rule in Qatar, the Execution Court will stay the execution proceedings pending a decision in the annulment action. Nevertheless, the court hearing the annulment action may order continuation of the execution proceedings
(Source: Civil Procedure Code, Art. 208.)
Documents filed in legal proceedings for recognition and enforcement of foreign awards are not part of the public record. Only the parties to these proceedings have access to the documents. However, it should be noted that Art. 121 of the Civil Procedure Code requires judgments issued in Qatar to be pronounced publicly; otherwise, they will be void.
Art. 59 of the Civil Procedure Code provides that hearings are generally public. However, the court has discretion to order that hearings held in camera where the public interest or moral considerations so dictate. It is, therefore, unlikely that a court decides to hold a hearing in camera to protect the confidentiality of an arbitral, albeit foreign, award.
Generally speaking, court judgments are not published. However, the principles established by the Court of Cassation are published without mentioning the names of the parties. Accordingly, if a judgment on recognition and enforcement is referred to the Court of Cassation and a judgment is issued, it is possible that it will be published by the Technical Office of the Court without the names of the parties.
As noted above, Art. 380 of the Civil Procedure Code requires the foreign award whose enforcement is sought to be final and irrevocable under the law where it was made. Therefore, it is our view that interim and partial foreign awards are enforceable in Qatar when they are proved to be final and irrevocable under the law of the seat of the arbitration.
As a general rule, Qatari courts enforce monetary and non-monetary foreign awards provided that, as stated above, the award holder submits a certificate demonstrating the finality of the award whose enforcement is sought.
There is nothing to prevent the court from enforcing only part of a foreign award, if that part, taken independently, satisfies the requirements of enforcement as mentioned above.
As noted above, one of the key conditions to enforce a foreign award is that the award is final and irrevocable under the laws of its country of origin. Therefore, the competent court in Qatar will refuse to enforce foreign awards which have been set aside by the competent authority referred to in Art. V(1)(e) of the New York Convention.
It is worth mentioning that the enforcement of monetary judgments/awards is subject to enforcement fees calculated on ad valorem basis, with a maximum of one thousand (1,000) Qatari rials. The enforcement fees are recoverable from the defendant upon enforcement of the award.
Further, during the execution proceedings, the Execution Court enquires about the debtor's assets located in Qatar with the relevant entities (e.g. banks, stock exchange, traffic department, etc.). The award creditor should assist the court in identifying the debtor's assets, particularly where these are not registered with any entity.