Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in Peru

Yes. Although judgments, according to the principle of sovereignty, only result in legal effects within the territory of the state whose court has issued them, private international law to which Peru is subject allows the extraterritoriality of the same by its recognition in the territory in which they will be executed.

In the case of seeking recognition of a foreign judgment in Peruvian territory, the exequatur procedure must be followed.

Through this process, executive merit will be granted to the recognised judgment. Subsequently, it may be executed in Peruvian territory.

2.1 Recognition in general civil matters

The recognition of foreign judgments in Peru is regulated by Title IV of Book X of the Peruvian Civil Code:

Artículo 2102   Principio de Reciprocidad	Article 2102 Principle of Reciprocity
Las sentencias pronunciadas por tribunales extranjeros tienen en la República la fuerza que les conceden los tratados respectivos.Si no hay tratado con el país en el que se pronunció la sentencia, tiene ésta la misma fuerza que en aquel país se da a las sentencias pronunciadas por los tribunals peruanos.	Judgments issued by foreign courts have the force granted by the respective treaties in the Republic.If there is no treaty with the country in which the judgment was issued, it has the same force given in that country to judgments issued by Peruvian courts.
Artículo 2103º Reciprocidad negative	Article 2103  Negative reciprocity
Si la sentencia procede de un país en el que no se da cumplimiento a los fallos de los tribunales peruanos, no tiene fuerza alguna en la República.Están comprendidas en la disposición precedente las sentencias que proceden de países donde se revisan, en el fondo, los fallos de los tribunales peruanos.	If the judgment comes from a country in which the rulings of the Peruvian courts are not complied with, it has no force in the Republic.Judgments that come from countries where the rulings of the Peruvian courts are reviewed are included in the preceding provision.
Artículo 2104   Requisitos para Exequator	Article 2104 Exequatur requirements
Para que las sentencias extranjeras sean reconocidas en la República, se requiere, además de lo previsto en los Artículos 2102 y 2103.1.    Que no resuelvan sobre asuntos de competencia peruana exclusiva.2.    Que el tribunal extranjero haya sido competente para conocer el asunto, de acuerdo a sus normas de Derecho Internacional Privado y a los principios generales de competencia procesal internacional.3.    Que se haya citado al demandado conforme a la ley del lugar del proceso; que se le haya concedido plazo razonable para comparecer; y que se le hayan otorgado garantías procesales para defenderse.4.    Que la sentencia tenga autoridad de cosa juzgada en el concepto de las leyes del lugar del proceso.5.    Que no exista en el Perú juicio pendiente entre las mismas partes y sobre el mismo objeto, iniciado con anterioridad a la interposición de la demanda que originó la sentencia.6.    Que no sea incompatible con otra sentencia que reúna los requisitos de reconocimiento y ejecución exigidos en este título y que haya sido dictada anteriormente.7.    Que no sea contraria al orden público ni a las buenas costumbres.8.    Que se pruebe la reciprocidad.	For foreign judgments to be recognised in the Republic, it is required, in addition to the provisions of articles 2102 and 2103, that:1.    The judgment does not decide on matters of exclusive Peruvian competence.2.    The foreign court was competent to hear the matter, in accordance with its rules of private international law and the general principles of international procedural competence.3.    The defendant has been summoned according to the law of the place of the process, that he/she has been granted a reasonable time to appear, and that he/she has been granted procedural guarantees to defend himself/herself.4.    The judgment has the authority of res judicata in the concept of the laws of the place where the process was carried out.5.    There is no pending trial in Peru between the same parties and on the same matter, initiated prior to the filing of the lawsuit that originated the judgment.6.    It is not incompatible with another judgment that meets the recognition and enforcement requirements required in this title and that has been previously issued.7.    It is not contrary to public order or good customs.8.    Reciprocity has been demonstrated.

2.2 Enforcement in civil matters

A non-contentious procedure must be initiated, in order to obtain recognition of the foreign judgment. Article 837 of the Civil Procedure Code therefore provides:

Artículo 837   Competencia

Article 837 Jurisdiction

El proceso que se refiere el Título IV del Libro X del Código Civil, se interpone ante la Sala Civil de turno de la Corte Superior en cuya competencia territorial tiene su domicilio la persona contra quien se pretende hacer valer.Se aplican al proceso de reconocimiento de laudos arbitrales extranjeros las Disposiciones Generales de esta Sección, en todo lo que no se oponga a la Ley General de Arbitraje.

The process referred to in Title IV of Book X of the Civil Code is brought before the Civil Court of the Superior Court in whose territorial jurisdiction the person against whom it is intended to be enforced is domiciled.The general provisions of this section apply to the process of recognition of foreign arbitration awards, in everything that does not oppose the General Arbitration Law.

For the purposes of processing the application for recognition, the provisions defined in Section Six – Title I of the Civil Procedure Code provide that the application for recognition must be submitted to the Civil Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice in which the person against whom the sentence will be executed is domiciled. The application must contain:

• the signatures of the applicant and the lawyer;
• a simple copy of the national identity card of the applicant or the representative;
• a power of attorney by public deed, duly registered in the Public Registries, if the application is processed through a representative;
• a copy of the whole judgment, duly legalised and officially translated into Spanish by official translators authorised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
• an affidavit with a legalised signature before the notary of the applicant or the representative, declaring under oath that: the defendant was summoned according to the law of the place where the proceeding was carried out and has been granted procedural guarantees to defend himself/herself; that the judgment has the authority of res judicata and that is not incompatible with another judgment that meets the recognition and enforcement requirements that have been previously issued; and
• court fees.

In accordance with Article 719 of the Civil Procedure Code “foreign judicial and arbitral decisions, recognised by national courts will be executed following the procedure established in (…)” the process of execution.

Once recognition by the national jurisdiction of the foreign resolution has been declared, the execution process must be initiated before the ordinary Civil Judge in which the defendant is domiciled. This is done through the filing of a claim for compliance with the foreign judgment calling for enforcement of the decision by force through the mechanisms granted by law to the judiciary.

This claim must contain:

•  the signature of the applicant and/or the representative and the lawyer;
• a power of attorney by public deed, duly registered in the Public Registries, if the request is processed through a representative;
• an executive title confirming that the certain, express, enforceable and liquid or payable obligation is achieved through arithmetic operation;
• a tariff for filing evidence; and
• fees for notification rights.

The claim in which compliance with the foreign judgment is required will be processed by an enforcement procedure, which corresponds to the shortest and most popular way to process cases in Peru.

2.3 Special civil matters

There are special matters to which standards of the same category apply.

2.4 Arbitral awards

Arbitral awards granted outside the Peruvian territory may be recognised and executed in Peru in accordance with the provisions of the following instruments:

• The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitration Awards, approved in New York on June 10, 1958;
• The Inter-American Convention on International Commercial Arbitration, approved in Panama on 30 January 1975;
• Any other treaty on recognition and enforcement of arbitration awards of which Peru is a party.

In the absence of a treaty, Legislative Decree No. 1071 that regulates arbitration in Peru will be applied. The procedure for general civil matters should be followed and recognition of the foreign award will be requested before the Civil Sub-Specialised Chamber in Commercial matters or, failing that, the Civil Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the domicile of the party served, if the party served does not reside within the Peruvian territory, or the place where they have their property or where they exercise their rights.

Peru does not use a common law model, so judicial precedents do not apply. Judgments become relevant when they reflect the interpretative and applicable criteria of the law; however, there are numerous judgments with different characteristics in the subject matter.

No. In the exequatur process, the judiciary must not vary the content of the judgment, since its work will be limited to granting the foreign judgment the necessary force for its compliance.

Although the duration may vary according to the burden of the judiciary in charge of the case, it usually takes about six to nine months.

Yes. According to Article 753 of the Civil Procedure Code, the served party has a period of five days to raise an objection. However, this objection is limited to non-compliance with the requirements that the exequatur must meet. If an objection is raised, it must accompany the documentation that it deems appropriate to prove its allegations.

Article 754 of the Civil Procedure Code defines that once the request for recognition of foreign judgments has been accepted, a date will be set for the hearing and court resolution, within the following 15 days.

If there is an objection, the presentation of evidence that supports it will be ordered, and then the request submitted will be resolved. Exceptionally, the court may reserve its decision for a period not exceeding three days from the conclusion of the hearing.

If an appeal is lodged against the judgment issued to solve the request, the appeal will be resolved by the Supreme Court.

Once the processing of the application has been completed with the recognition of the foreign judgment, the court will order the delivery of a certified copy of the proceeding to the interested party or issue the corresponding resolution, if applicable, as it cannot be challenged.

The foreign judgment that is recognised by the national jurisdiction will have the status of an executable instrument and may be executed by an ordinary judge in the process of a single execution proceeding.