Kazakhstan - Enforcement of Money Judgments

In the past years the Kazakh Government has adopted a rather favorable attitude towards the recognition and enforcement of foreign money judgments, mostly by virtue of international treaties ratified by Kazakhstan. Recent litigation concerning a significant foreign investment, in the Pavlodar Alumina Factory, suggests that this recepivity may have some practical limitations. In the Pavlodar case, the Kazakh courts had rendered contemporary judgments which conflicted with those of British Virgin Islands courts.

The recently enacted Law “On Enforcement Proceedings and Status of Enforcement Officers” changed the status of the officers responsible for judgment enforcement in Kazakhstan: previously they had been subordinated to the courts, and now they are administered by the Ministry of Justice, including its territorial agencies. The Section for the Administration of International Law and Protocol Issues within the Ministry of Justice Department of Legislation has become the central authority of the Government responsible for monitoring issues relating to foreign judgment enforcement and the enforcement of arbitration awards in Kazakhstan. Under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice, the Kazakh Government has prepared and circulated for comment to foreign missions a draft Model Convention proposing a simplified mechanism for recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments on a reciprocal basis.

Foreign money judgments are directly enforceable in Kazakhstan on the basis of international treaties ratified by Kazakhstan which provide for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. Judgments rendered by competent courts in other CIS countries are enforceable through the Minsk Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Matters of January 22, 1993, as amended March 28, 1997 (the “Minsk Convention”) and the Kiev Agreement between the CIS Countries on the Procedure for Settlement of Disputes Associated with Commercial Activities of March 20, 1992 (the “Kiev Agreement”). Judgments from courts of other countries (not members of the CIS) are enforceable in Kazakhstan through bilateral treaties. Even if there is no bilateral treaty applicable, the laws of Kazakhstan may still authorize recognition and enforcement of the judgment, presumably according to general principles of comity. In such cases the decision is left in the hands of the Ministry of Justice, which is to consider on a case-by-case basis whether a foreign judgment should be enforced. The laws of Kazakhstan, however, do not address the criteria the ministry is to apply in such cases.