Provisional enforcement

Provisional enforcement or enforcement by provision is a mechanism whereby an obtained judgment may be enforced despite the appeal or legal remedy sought by the party against which the judgment is given.

Such provisional enforcement may be pronounced by the judge if he thinks it is necessary in light of the characteristics of the case. In certain cases the law will assign the character enforceable by provision for the obtained decision without the judge having to rule in the matter (for example: decisions of the family court, the seizures court, the court of summary proceedings, etc…).

It should be pointed out that provisional enforcement may help the successful party in the proceedings to have the court decision enforced even if appeal has been initiated, on condition that the court of appeal has not officially given its decision. Provisional enforcement might therefore be seen as an exception to the principle according to which the introduction of an appeal suspends the contested court decision.

N.B.: since the entry into effect of the Pot-Pourri 1 reform, appeal no longer has any suspensory effect and the court’s decision may be enforced directly. Only the opposition procedure retains its suspensory effect.

Updated 27/11/2018

Definitions provided under this section refer to the Belgian situation; unless specified otherwise. The texts are meant to summarize concepts in daily language and should not be considered as comprehensive or definite. We welcome suggestions for modifications or additions at glossary@tcm.be.