Enforcing an award rendered outside Georgia involves a specific court route, the appropriate documents and required certified Georgian translations. Article 44 designates the Supreme Court; Article 45 identifies specific refusal grounds. Check the debtor’s identity and Georgian assets in parallel. Recognition, commencement of execution and actual payment should not be treated as one guaranteed outcome.
Legal support for this matter: Foreign Judgment Recognition & Enforcement
The first distinction: recognition and recovery
A foreign arbitral award needs the appropriate Georgian court process before compulsory recovery here. Article 44 of the Arbitration Law identifies the Supreme Court of Georgia as the competent court for awards rendered outside Georgia. That process differs from starting a fresh contractual claim on the underlying dispute. Prepare the award, arbitration agreement and required Georgian translations, and assess the statutory refusal grounds. Sending the first page of an award or an institution’s covering letter does not create a complete application.
Recognition and permission to enforce do not equal payment. The next task connects the enforceable basis with appropriate assets belonging to the debtor in Georgia. A successful court stage may produce no recovery if there are no recoverable assets. Plan two workstreams: the legal award file and asset evidence. Identify creditor and debtor precisely; another group company, shareholder or director does not become the award debtor merely through a business connection.
Official sources: Law of Georgia on Arbitration · Law of Georgia on Enforcement Proceedings
Identify the award and the correct legal regime
Identify what you actually hold: a foreign court judgment, arbitral award and mediated settlement may follow different routes. For arbitration, record where the award was rendered, the institution or other arbitration arrangement and the exact type of decision. A foreign party’s participation does not by itself make an award foreign. This article concerns awards rendered outside Georgia, rather than every domestic arbitration procedure.
Civil Procedure Code Article 356²² directs foreign awards to the Arbitration Law. Do not mechanically import another regime’s document list or refusal rules. A certificate useful for recognising a foreign court judgment is not automatically mandatory for an arbitral award. Distinguish a final award from an interim measure, which has specific rules. Keep the complete decision, applicable institutional rules and case number; the word international in a heading does not settle classification.
Official sources: Civil Procedure Code of Georgia · Law of Georgia on Arbitration
The New York Convention and country checks
The New York Convention provides the international recognition and enforcement framework. The UN depositary records Georgia’s accession on 2 June 1994. Check the relevant scope, territorial application and reservations when required. Country names alone do not decide every issue, especially where the place of the award, institution’s address and parties’ countries differ. Explain how the particular award fits the legal framework relied upon.
Georgian Article 44 also describes its recognition rule irrespective of the country of the award, subject to Article 45. A blanket statement that enforcement always depends on reciprocity or nationality is therefore inadequate. Convention membership likewise does not mean unconditional enforcement: documentary requirements, refusal grounds and Georgian procedure remain relevant. Identify the national and treaty provisions supporting the application, rather than treating a list of member states as the entire legal assessment.
Official sources: New York Convention — UN certified text · UN Treaty Collection — Convention status · Law of Georgia on Arbitration
The competent Georgian court
Article 44 assigns awards rendered outside Georgia to the Supreme Court; awards rendered in Georgia are assigned to courts of appeal. Start preparation with that distinction. The location of an asset in Tbilisi or another city does not itself change the court designated for recognising the foreign award. Do not apply ordinary territorial assumptions for a fresh contractual lawsuit as though the underlying dispute were being decided for the first time.
The written motion should consistently identify the parties, place of the award, relief sought and supplied documents. Where several debtors or claims appear, explain what is sought in Georgia. Plan appropriate representative-authority material when acting for a foreign person or company. An organised annex index helps connect the file without replacing statutory evidence. The court application and later enforcement request serve different purposes: useful asset information cannot replace the award documentation.
Official sources: Law of Georgia on Arbitration · Civil Procedure Code of Georgia
The award and arbitration agreement
Article 44 requires the duly authenticated original award or a duly certified copy. Address the arbitration agreement’s original or duly certified copy using the statute’s wording, including its if-any qualification. New York Convention Article IV also addresses the appropriate award and agreement versions. Collect the complete award and the contract or separate agreement containing the arbitration clause. General institutional rules do not automatically substitute for the parties’ actual agreement.
Check signatures, date, case number and operative part. Keep later corrections or additional awards and explain which operative text supports the request. An extract may omit information defining the award’s scope. Assess any apostille or other authentication question for the actual document form; recognition is not merely a matter of acquiring stamps. A generic public-document guide cannot replace Article 44’s requirements. Origin, completeness and identification of the operative award are connected but distinct tasks.
Official sources: Law of Georgia on Arbitration · New York Convention — UN certified text
Notice and the opportunity to present a case
Improper notice of appointment or proceedings, or inability to present a case, can support refusal. Prepare the notice record before an objection appears, especially when the other party did not participate. Retain addresses used, transmitted notices, delivery information, procedural orders and institutional correspondence. This is an evidence-planning list, not a universal additional statutory filing requirement. It should show the actual procedure rather than your assumption that the opponent knew everything.
For electronic notices, preserve context, transmission and receipt records and the basis for using the address. A standalone screenshot may not reflect the full correspondence. Responses, extension requests and appointment of representatives can also matter. Giving notice and providing a real opportunity to present a case are distinct questions. Organise disputed events chronologically. Non-participation neither guarantees enforcement nor automatically defeats it; the relevant grounds and evidence require assessment.
Official sources: Law of Georgia on Arbitration · New York Convention — UN certified text
Certified Georgian translations and identity
Article 44 requires duly certified Georgian translations when the award or agreement is not in Georgian. Translate the complete official version and check amounts, currency, interest, costs and operative wording. A poorly translated legal term may obscure the requested relief. Give the translator explanatory material without instructing them to change the original. Any uncertainty or error in the source should be identified and assessed in the legal file.
Identity alignment matters when a foreign award debtor has Georgian assets. Link the named party to the registered owner using official identifying information: company name, registration number, legal form and relevant changes. Similar names alone are insufficient. The same applies to the creditor, particularly after succession or assignment. Silently changing a translated name does not solve the problem. Both court and enforcement files must concern the same identified obligation and parties.
Official sources: Law of Georgia on Arbitration · New York Convention — UN certified text · National Agency of Public Registry — Registers and information
Assess the limited refusal grounds
Article 45 identifies specific grounds involving capacity or required support, agreement validity under the relevant law, notice or inability to present a case, excess of submitted scope, tribunal composition or procedure, and the award’s binding status, annulment or suspension. The resisting party must establish the grounds assigned to it. Connect each alleged defect to evidence and the relevant rule; dissatisfaction with the outcome cannot replace the statutory list.
The court also considers whether the subject is arbitrable under Georgian law and whether recognition and enforcement conflict with public policy. Separable decisions within the submitted scope can potentially be recognised and enforced even where another part exceeds it. Show the distinct parts and relief requested. Recognition is not an ordinary merits appeal. Nevertheless, genuinely relevant objections need analysis, potentially including the law governing the agreement or the place of the award, depending on the particular ground.
Official sources: Law of Georgia on Arbitration · New York Convention — UN certified text · Civil Procedure Code of Georgia
Challenges, suspension and security
Before applying, check whether the award is binding, whether annulment or suspension exists, and whether a challenge is pending before a competent authority. Assess documents accurately: an opponent’s private allegation is not a court order setting an award aside. Retain the relevant official record and update its status when circumstances change. An old certificate does not necessarily establish the current position.
Article 45 permits adjournment in the described foreign challenge situation and, at the applicant’s request, appropriate security from the opponent. Convention Article VI also addresses adjournment and security. These require judicial assessment rather than operating automatically. Consider urgent asset-preservation measures separately; the Arbitration Law has specific interim-measure and court-support provisions. A final-award recognition request is not a substitute for every urgent attachment request. Identify the risk, property and legal basis without assuming authority to restrict assets yourself. Article 45(3) limits postponement of the decision in that situation to no more than 30 days; this is not a guaranteed timetable for completing the entire case.
Official sources: Law of Georgia on Arbitration · New York Convention — UN certified text · Civil Procedure Code of Georgia
Asset location, ownership and realistic value
Build an asset file using lawfully available official records linking the debtor to particular Georgian property. For real estate, registry information and a cadastral identifier may help; for companies, registration details and precise legal identity matter. NAPR identifies real-estate and business registers, extracts and restrictions information. A registry record is an evidence source, not proof of sale value or money available to the creditor. An old extract may not establish current ownership.
Distinguish the debtor’s property from assets owned by others. Use of an asset, a common director or a similar name does not establish ownership. Restrictions, registered rights, competing claims and actual condition can affect recovery planning. This article determines neither priority nor third-party liability. Record each asset lead, source date, owner and unresolved issue. Asset evidence cannot replace the legal award file, but it gives later execution a practical direction.
Official sources: National Agency of Public Registry — Registers and information · Law of Georgia on Enforcement Proceedings
From the court ruling to an enforcement file
Article 44 connects execution to the court ruling and Enforcement Proceedings Law. Article 25 of that law gives the general NBE initiation basis as the creditor’s written application and writ of execution. Sending the foreign award straight to NBE does not replace the Georgian court stage. Prepare the relevant ruling and execution document, matching parties and relief. Confirm representative-authority form and the current submission channel separately.
The statutory monetary-recovery stages include initiation, attachment, auction and payment to the creditor. They do not guarantee that every case will complete each step in the same manner. Actual payment, available property and special legal circumstances need assessment. Explain each principal, interest and costs component precisely. Do not assume every accrual continues unchanged until payment. Relief permitted by the court, the current execution rules and money actually recovered are different pieces of the process.
Official sources: Law of Georgia on Arbitration · Law of Georgia on Enforcement Proceedings · Civil Procedure Code of Georgia
Case checklist and source currentness
Organise the starting package into four parts: award and agreement; required certified Georgian translations; notice, binding-status and relevant challenge materials; and debtor/asset identification. Distinguish statutory documents from supplementary evidence useful for a particular issue. Note what remains missing, which version is operative and who will obtain the outstanding material. A concise explanation assists assessment but does not remove the need for the appropriate originals, copies and translations.
Sources were checked on 3 October 2026. The current Georgian Enforcement Law includes the September 2026 amendment; the latest English translation is being updated, so legal verification uses the Georgian consolidation. The Convention was checked through the UN depositary’s certified text. Archived NBE fees and timing have not been reproduced. Reconfirm submission rules, costs and case-specific timing before acting. This source-based procedural guide guarantees neither recognition, discovery of assets nor full payment. Publication and commencement differ: the bracketed new pension wording in Article 25(2) takes effect on 15 October 2026 and is not treated here as operative on 3 October.
Official sources: Law of Georgia on Arbitration · Civil Procedure Code of Georgia · Law of Georgia on Enforcement Proceedings · New York Convention — UN certified text · UN Treaty Collection — Convention status
Important noteThis material is general information, not personalised legal advice. Recheck current law, official practice, fees and deadlines against your facts before acting.