Enforcing a foreign judgment or award in Iran
You won. The other side, and often the assets, are in Iran. A judgment is a document from another country’s courts until an Iranian forum gives it effect — and the two routes, judgment and arbitral award, are not the same route.
Arbitral awards
Iran is a party to the New York Convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. An award made in another member state therefore has an established path, and in practice awards are usually the more straightforward of the two.
Court judgments
A judgment from a foreign court is examined against conditions set by Iranian law before it can be enforced. Rather than list them — the detail is precisely where a general statement becomes wrong — the useful thing to say is that the examination is real, it is not a rehearing of the merits, and whether a particular judgment satisfies it is exactly the question to put to a lawyer before spending anything.
What to check before you start
Enforcement is worth attempting when there is something to enforce against. Before the legal analysis, the practical one:
- Does the debtor hold assets in Iran, and do you know what and where?
- Is the judgment final, or still open to appeal where it was given?
- Was the losing party properly served and given a chance to be heard?
- Do you hold a certified, properly legalised copy, with translation?
Tell us what happened
Describe the matter in a few lines and we will tell you whether it is something we can act on, what it would involve, and what we would need from you.
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