A Legal Insight into the Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Iraq

Analysis

Whether a judgment is foreign can be determined by numerous criterias, among which, is the geographical criterion which is adopted by the Iraqi law in 1928 when it was explicitly detailed in Article 1 of the Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Law (number 30 of 1928) (the “Foreign Enforcement Law”).

This states that “a foreign judgment is the judgment issued by a court situated outside Iraq”.

Before 1928 foreign judgments were not enforced or recognized because this was seen as an infringement on the sovereignty of the state, an attitude shared by most countries at that time. Views however began to change and other considerations became important, such as the preservation of rights regulated under foreign judgments and the importance of not harming people's commercial interests. As a response to this many countries, including Iraq, began to permit the adoption and enforcement of foreign judgments issued by non-national courts either by virtue of enacted legislation or through many multinational conventions which were entered into for this purpose.

Enforcement under the Foreign Enforcement Law