Case Study: Successful Enforcement of a Foreign Judgment in the Sultanate of Oman

A judgment is only as valuable as a claimant's ability to enforce it. This is especially true of foreign judgments, where a defendant's assets sit outside the jurisdiction that issued the judgment and cross-border enforcement becomes the decisive step. In Oman, courts will only order enforcement of a foreign judgment where specific statutory conditions are met, including finality of the judgment, proper representation of the parties, compatibility with Omani public order, and reciprocity between Oman and the issuing jurisdiction.

This case study examines our recent experience successfully obtaining enforcement in Oman of a final judgment issued by a Greek court in favour of our client.

General Information on the Client:

Our client is a Greek company engaged in the supply of industrial products and related services. The client had entered into an exclusive distribution arrangement with an Omani company for the sale of its products in Oman.

Subject Matter:

Under the contract, our client supplied products to the Omani company against a number of invoices. The Omani company made partial payments but failed to settle the outstanding balances within the agreed payment period.

As a result, our client initiated legal proceedings before the competent court in Greece, which ruled in its favour and ordered the Omani company to pay the outstanding amounts, together with statutory interest accruing from the day following each invoice's due date until full payment, in addition to judicial costs.

Despite obtaining a final judgment in Greece, the Omani company did not voluntarily satisfy the amounts awarded. Our client therefore required assistance in having the Greek judgment recognised and enforced in the Sultanate of Oman.

Legal Solution:

Following a comprehensive review of the available legal avenues, we advised our client to initiate proceedings for the enforcement of a foreign judgment pursuant to Article 352 of the Omani Civil and Commercial Procedures Law.

Article 352 requires the court to verify a number of conditions before ordering the enforcement of a foreign judgment. These include that the judgment was issued by a competent judicial authority, has become final and was not obtained by fraud; that the parties were duly summoned and properly represented; that the judgment does not contain relief contrary to the laws in force in Oman; that it does not conflict with an existing Omani judgment or with public order or morals; and that the country in which the judgment was issued accepts the enforcement of judgments issued by Omani courts.

Our work therefore focused on establishing that each of these requirements had been satisfied. In coordination with the client, we obtained and submitted the necessary supporting documents, including the final Greek judgment, a certificate confirming that no appeal had been filed, and evidence that the defendant had been duly served,  including proof that service had been effected through diplomatic channels and received by the defendant's owner personally.

A key aspect of the application was also establishing the requirement of reciprocity. This was evidenced by producing an extract of a case in which a foreign (non-Omani) judgment had been recognised and enforced in Greece, demonstrating that Greek courts extend enforcement to foreign judgments generally and would, on the same principle, be expected to do so for Omani judgments.

A further point addressed during proceedings concerned the interest awarded under the Greek judgment, which was not expressed as a fixed numerical rate. We submitted an explanatory memorandum demonstrating that, under Greek civil law, statutory interest on commercial debts is calculated by reference to the European Central Bank's reference rate plus a statutory margin, updated periodically by the competent Greek authorities, rather than fixed at the time of judgment. This memorandum set out the legal basis and calculation methodology under Greek law to the court's satisfaction.

We further demonstrated that the judgment did not conflict with Omani public order or morals and otherwise satisfied the requirements for enforcement under Article 352.

The Outcome:

The Omani Court ruled in favour of our client and ordered the enforcement of the Greek judgment in the Sultanate of Oman.

The Court ordered enforcement of the principal amounts awarded under the relevant invoices, together with the judicial costs awarded by the Athens Court of Appeal in Greece. It also permitted enforcement of the statutory interest awarded under the foreign judgment, subject to the maximum commercial interest rate permitted under Omani law.

The judgment was ordered to be endorsed with the executive formula (the certification required under Omani law to render a judgment enforceable) in Oman, enabling our client to proceed with enforcement against the defendant.

Following the judgment, we proceeded with obtaining the executive formula and commenced enforcement proceedings against the Omani company for recovery of the amounts awarded to our client.

Practice Points

- Reciprocity need not rest on Omani-specific precedent. Evidence that the foreign jurisdiction generally enforces foreign judgments (even where the prior case involved a third country rather than Oman) can satisfy Article 352's reciprocity requirement.

- Courts may scrutinise the mechanics of a foreign interest award, not just its existence. Where a foreign judgment awards interest without a fixed numerical rate, Omani courts may require a memorandum explaining the legal basis and calculation methodology under the foreign law, even after ruling on enforcement in principle.

- Interest is generally subject to the Omani statutory cap. Even where a foreign judgment awards interest at a different rate or mechanism, Omani courts are likely to enforce it only up to the maximum commercial interest rate permitted under Omani law, as was the case here.

- Finality and proper service should be documented early. A certificate confirming no pending appeal, together with clear proof of service (including via diplomatic channels where applicable), is central to satisfying Article 352 and should be secured as soon as the foreign judgment becomes enforceable.

 

Written by: Al Shaima Al Adawi, Associate, GRATA International Oman

Edited by: Reham Al Barakat, Executive Manager, GRATA International Oman