Civil Enforcement Act

Judicial enforcement is carried out based on any of the following (referred to as a "title of obligation" below):

a final and binding judgment;

a judgment bearing a declaration of provisional enforcement;

a judicial decision that may not be appealed except in the form of an appeal against a ruling (but only one that has become final and binding, if it constitutes a judicial decision that is only effective once it becomes final and binding);

an order for damages bearing a declaration of provisional enforcement;

an order to pay a filed claim bearing a declaration of provisional enforcement;

a demand for payment bearing a declaration of provisional enforcement;

a measure by the court clerk setting the amount to be borne for court costs, settlement costs, or costs of procedures in a non-contentious case (including a case to which the provisions of the Non-Contentious Case Procedures Act (Act No. 51 of 2011) apply mutatis mutandis pursuant to the provisions of other laws and regulations), domestic relations case, or case relating to the return of a child provided for in Article 29 of the Act for Implementation of the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Act No. 48 of 2013); or a measure by the court clerk setting the enforcement costs and the amount of money to be returned provided for in Article 42, paragraph (4) (for the latter measure, this is limited to one that has become final and binding);

a notarial instrument that a notary has prepared concerning a claim for payment of a fixed amount of money or the delivery of a certain amount of any other fungible thing or of securities, which contains or records a statement indicating that the obligor will immediately face judicial enforcement (referred to as a "notarial instrument authorizing enforcement" below);

a foreign court judgment (including a judicial decision in a domestic relations case; the same applies in Article 24) for which an enforcement judgment has become final and binding;

an arbitral award for which an order of enforceability has become final and binding; or

an order for interim measures prescribed in Article 50 of the Arbitration Act (Act No. 138 of 2003) for which an enforcement approval order has become final and binding;

an international settlement agreement for which an order of enforceability has become final and binding;

a specific settlement for which an order of enforceability has become final and binding; or

a document that has the same effect as a final and binding judgment (excluding the judicial decision stated in item (iii)).

Judicial enforcement that is based on a title of obligation other than a notarial instrument authorizing enforcement may be carried out for or against any of the following persons:

a party indicated in the title of obligation;

a person on whose behalf the party indicated in the title of obligation became the party, if applicable; or

a person who became the successor of the person stated in one of the preceding two items after the establishment of the title of obligation (or a successor arising after the conclusion of oral arguments, for a title of obligation stated in item (i), item (ii) or item (vi) of the preceding Article; or a successor arising after the conclusion of the proceedings, for a title of obligation stated in item (iii)-2 of that Article or for a title of obligation stated in item (vii) of that Article that concerns an order for damages).

Judicial enforcement based on a notarial instrument authorizing enforcement may be carried out for or against a party indicated in the instrument or a person who became the successor of that person after the preparation of the instrument.

Judicial enforcement based on a title of obligation provided for in paragraph (1) may also be carried out against a person possessing the subject matter of the claim on behalf of a person stated in one of the items of that paragraph.

An action seeking an enforcement judgment for a foreign court judgment is subject to the jurisdiction of the district court (or the family court, for an action concerning a judicial decision in a domestic relations case; the same applies in this paragraph) having jurisdiction in the locality constituting the general venue of the obligor, and if there is no general venue, it is subject to the jurisdiction of the district court having jurisdiction in the place where the subject matter of the claim or the seizable property of the obligor is located.

Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, even if all or part of an action as referred to in that paragraph is subject to the jurisdiction of the family court, the district court provided for in the preceding paragraph, upon petition or by its own authority, may conduct the trial and reach a judicial decision itself for all or part of the litigation in the action, if it finds this to be appropriate.

Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), even if all or part of an action as referred to in that paragraph is subject to the jurisdiction of the district court, the family court provided for in that paragraph, upon petition or by its own authority, may conduct the trial and reach a judicial decision itself for all or part of the litigation in the action, if it finds this to be appropriate.

The court must make an enforcement judgment without investigating the correctness or incorrectness of the judicial decision.

The action referred to in paragraph (1) must be denied if it is not proved that the judgment of a foreign court has become final and binding or when the judgment fails to satisfy the requirements stated in the items of Article 118 of the Code of Civil Procedure (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 79-2 of the Domestic Relations Case Procedure Act (Act No. 52 of 2011)).

In an enforcement judgment, a declaration must be made permitting judicial enforcement based on the foreign court judgment.

Judicial enforcement is implemented on the basis of an authenticated copy of the title of obligation bearing an attestation of enforceability (if the electronic or magnetic record related to a title of obligation is recorded in a file, then a certificate of recorded information, and if a title of obligation is a notarial instrument authorizing enforcement prepared as an electronic or magnetic record, then a document prescribed in Article 44, paragraph (1), item (ii) of the Notary Act (Act No. 53 of 1908) or electronic or magnetic record prescribed in item (iii) of that paragraph; the same applies below); provided, however, that judicial enforcement for or against an indicated party based on a final and binding judgment in a small claims action or based on a judgment in a small claims action or demand for payment bearing a declaration of provisional enforcement is implemented on the basis of an authenticated copy of that title of obligation.

Upon petition, a clerk of the court in which the record of the case exists grants an attestation of enforceability for a title of obligation other than a notarial instrument authorizing enforcement, and the notary preserving the original of a notarial instrument authorizing enforcement (if the attestation of enforceability is prepared as an electronic or magnetic record, that electronic or magnetic record) grants an attestation of enforceability for that instrument.

If the obligee is entitled to judicial enforcement against the obligor based on the title of obligation, the court clerk or notary grants an attestation of enforceability by the method prescribed in each of the following items in accordance with the category stated in the respective items:

granting attestations of enforceability if the electronic or magnetic record related to the title of obligation is recorded in a file:the method of recording together with the electronic or magnetic record stating that the obligee is entitled to judicial enforcement against the obligor pursuant to the title of obligation;

granting attestations of enforceability if the title of obligation is a notarial instrument authorizing enforcement prepared as an electronic or magnetic record:the means of recording together with the electronic or magnetic record stating that the obligee is entitled to judicial enforcement against the obligor related to the title of obligation and adding a note indicating this at the end of the document related to the title of obligation prescribed in Article 44, paragraph (1), item (ii) of the Notary Act or recording a statement to that effect together with the electronic or magnetic record related to the title of obligation prescribed in paragraph (1), item (iii) of that Article; or

granting attestations of enforceability in cases other than those prescribed in the preceding two items:the method of adding a note indicating this at the end of an authenticated copy of the title of obligation stating that the obligee is entitled to judicial enforcement against the obligor pursuant to the title of obligation.

If a claim involves the occurrence of a fact that an obligee is required to prove, the court clerk or notary may grant an attestation of enforceability only once the obligee has produced a document or electronic or magnetic record proving that the fact has occurred.

The court clerk or notary may grant an attestation of enforceability naming a person other than the party indicated in the title of obligation as the obligee or obligor, but only if it is apparent to the court clerk or notary that judicial enforcement may be carried out for or against that person, or if the obligee has produced a document or electronic or magnetic record proving this.

If any of the following grounds are present in connection with the title of obligation and there are special circumstances that make it difficult to identify the person in possession of the immovable property before its delivery or eviction is enforced based on that title of obligation, the court clerk or notary may grant an attestation of enforceability without specifying the obligor, but only if the obligee has produced a document or electronic or magnetic record proving this:

the title of obligation indicates a claim for the delivery or eviction of immovable property, an order of provisional disposition prohibiting the transfer of possession (meaning an order of provisional disposition prohibiting the transfer of possession prescribed in Article 25-2, paragraph (1) of the Civil Provisional Remedies Act (Act No. 91 of 1989)) has been carried out in connection with the principal proceedings involving that claim, and Article 62, paragraph (1) of the Civil Provisional Remedies Act permits the obligee to enforce delivery or surrender against the person in possession of the immovable property based on that title of obligation; or

the title of obligation is an order under the main clause of Article 83, paragraph (1) (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 188) issued in proceedings for a compulsory auction (including the auctioning of property as a means of enforcing a security interest; the same applies in this item) (referred to as a "delivery order" below), the provisional order stated in any of (a) through (c) below or the provisional order to post a public notice (meaning the provisional order to post a public notice provided for in Article 55, paragraph (1); the same applies in this paragraph) stated in any of (a) through (c) below has been carried out against the person with a duty to deliver the property named in the delivery order in those proceedings, and the provisions of Article 83-2, paragraph (1) (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 187, paragraph (5) or Article 188) permit the obligee to enforce delivery against the person in possession of the immovable property based on that delivery order:

the provisional order stated in Article 55, paragraph (1), item (iii) and the provisional order to post a public notice stated in that item (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 188); or

the provisional order stated in Article 77, paragraph (1), item (iii) or provisional order to post a public notice stated in that item (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 188);

the provisional order provided for in Article 187, paragraph (1) or provisional order to post a public notice provided for in that paragraph (limited to one stated in Article 55, paragraph (1), item (iii)).

Judicial enforcement based on an authenticated copy of a title of obligation bearing an attestation of enforceability as referred to in the preceding paragraph may only be carried out before the expiration of four weeks from the day on which the attestation of enforceability is granted, and only if the person in possession can be identified at the time the immovable property is removed from their possession through judicial enforcement.

When judicial enforcement that is based on an authenticated copy of a title of obligation bearing an attestation of enforceability granted pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (3) is carried out pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the person that has had the immovable property removed from their possession as a result of enforcement becomes the obligor.