Answer ... Certain judgments may be enforced once 24 hours have elapsed since their delivery. Most judgments, including pecuniary or monetary orders, may be enforced once two days have elapsed since their delivery. Nevertheless, in urgent matters, the courts have the power to order the immediate enforcement of a judgment. Such an order will normally be made in the judgment itself. In cases where the enforcement of a judgment is to be carried out after five years have elapsed since the first day on which judgment became enforceable, the claimant must file an application before the court which delivered the judgment and must therein confirm the nature of the claim and the amount or part thereof which is still due.

A judgment may be enforced against any movables or immovables of the debtor through the issuance of executive acts, including:

• the warrant of seizure of movable property;
• the warrant of seizure of immovable property;
• the warrant of seizure of a commercial going concern;
• the executive garnishee order (which is akin to a freezing order);
• the warrant of arrest of a vessel; and
• the warrant of arrest of an aircraft.

Answer ... The procedure to be followed will depend on the jurisdiction in which the judgment in question was delivered. A judgment delivered by a court within an EU member state will generally be enforced through the expedient procedures envisaged under EU legislation, and in particular Eu Regulation 44/2001 (Brussels I Regulations) which is limited to proceedings commenced before January 2015, EU Regulation 1215/2012 (Brussel I Recast Regulation), and EU Regulation 805/2004 (EEO Regulation). These regional instruments have abolished the requirement for the exequatur process, and accordingly a claimant may proceed to immediately enforce a judgment delivered in another EU member state in Malta as long as the requirements of the relevant regulation are fulfilled.

Following Brexit, the enforcement of judgments delivered in the United Kingdom will be regulated by the British Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act (Chapter 52 of the Laws of Malta). The claimant must file an application before the Court of Appeal to have the judgment registered and ordered enforceable in Malta. This regulates, among other things, the powers of the court in relation to applications of this nature and the grounds upon which the registration and enforcement of a British judgment may be denied.

With respect to judgments delivered in other countries, the claimant will need to follow the procedure provided for under Articles 826 and following of the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure. The claimant must file an application before the court requesting that it order recognition and enforcement of the judgment in Malta. However, such enforcement will be limited to judgments which constitute a res judicata.

Answer ... As a rule, a defendant cannot oppose the enforcement of an executive warrant or garnishee order until after it has been executed. The only challenge which may be put forward by a defendant is to try to have the warrant or garnishee immediately impugned on the basis that there is a material error or shortcoming in the form of the executive act itself.

It is also worth noting that the various executive warrants and the executive garnishee order all target specific assets of a debtor. It is often the case that a plaintiff will resort to filing more than one executive act to improve its chances of seizing enough assets to get paid. It is therefore always advisable that a plaintiff first try to assess what assets the defendant owns, in order to be in a better position to determine which warrants and order it should seek to obtain to enforce its judgment.