While Qatar does not operate the same breadth of open registries seen in some common law jurisdictions, several databases can be searched without the need for a court order, including the following.

• The Commercial Register (Ministry of Commerce & Industry or MOCI) provides the company’s incorporation details, authorised capital, paid-up capital, current shareholders, directors and registered address, and the status of the company (whether it is active, inactive, attached or under liquidation).
• The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Public Register provides similar information for entities incorporated in the QFC, including annual financial summaries, where filed.
• Real Estate and Land Registration (Ministry of Justice) provides the title particulars for land and buildings. A property search can be performed with plot and title numbers, but owner-name searches are not open to the public and normally require either the owner’s consent or a court order.
• The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) provides lists of shareholdings exceeding the disclosure threshold (generally 5%), market capitalisation and trading history.

In practical terms, public searches often provide a skeletal “starting map” of assets and counterparties. To obtain a more granular picture, a litigant will typically move swiftly to court-ordered measures.

For freezing assets orders, the new Judicial Enforcement Law No 4 of 2024 (JEL) equips the Enforcement Court with the following interim powers that can be invoked pre-action or during proceedings.

• Precautionary attachment (ex parte or with notice) under Articles 36 and 31 of the JEL: the judge may order immediate attachment of movable or immovable property, bank accounts, receivables or shares. The order can be issued before the debtor is served where the creditor demonstrates urgency or a risk of dissipation. Once served, the debtor has ten working days to object or satisfy the debt.
• Asset freeze under insolvency-style powers under Article 49 of the JEL: where the debtor pleads insolvency, the court may prohibit all commercial activity and compel disclosure of assets from third parties. Because attachment orders require the enforcing officer (bailiff) to itemise property, they serve the dual purpose of preserving and identifying assets; bailiffs routinely write to banks, brokerage houses, the Qatar Central Bank, real estate registries and traffic authorities to confirm holdings and encumbrances.

As for court-ordered asset disclosure, the law does not use “asset disclosure order” terminology, but a functional equivalent is available through several mechanisms, as follows.

• Compulsory information requests by the enforcement judge under Articles 35, 36 and 49 of the JEL: the judge may, on the creditor’s application or ex officio, direct any public or private entity (banks, land registry, brokerage, insurers, utilities, government tender boards) to provide a statement of assets held for the debtor.
• Discovery in main proceedings: although Qatar’s civil procedure does not provide for US-style discovery, a party may request the trial court to compel the production of specific documents “necessary for adjudication” (Article 202 of the Civil and Commercial Procedural Law, or CCP). Such targeted requests are commonly directed at audited financial statements, bank account records and real estate deeds.

Qatari law recognises a range of domestic judgments that can be granted by the competent courts depending on the stage of proceedings and the nature of the dispute.

• Default judgments arise when one party fails to appear, submit a defence or otherwise participate in the litigation process. In such cases, the court may find in favour of the applicant party based on the available evidence and the defendant’s non-participation.
• Interim or provisional judgments may be issued to preserve the status quo or safeguard assets before the dispute is finally resolved, typically in situations where urgent measures, like injunctions, are warranted.
• Final judgments for a specified amount of money are the most common type, resolving the dispute conclusively and awarding a sum in favour of the prevailing party once all appeals are exhausted.
• In addition to monetary or financial orders, Qatari courts can issue non-monetary judgments, including injunctions that compel or prohibit certain actions and orders of specific performance that require a party to perform a particular contractual or legal obligation.
• Declaratory judgments provide clarity on the rights or legal status of the parties without necessarily imposing an obligation to pay a sum of money or take further action. These serve to affirm legal positions, settle uncertainties or confirm the existence of particular rights in accordance with Qatari law.

Under the JEL, every final, domestic judgment constitutes an “enforceable title” (Article 6). Once the judgment creditor has obtained such a title, a specialised Enforcement Court (“the Court”) has exclusive jurisdiction to supervise and compel satisfaction of the debt (Articles 2–3). The key options and their procedural steps are summarised below.

Charging-Type Relief – Attachment and Sale of Real Property

A charging order is functionally replicated in Qatar by attaching a debtor’s interests in land or other immovable property and prohibiting any disposition until the debt is cleared. The creditor files an enforcement application in the prescribed electronic form (Article 28), annexing a copy of the judgment, identifying the parties, and paying the prescribed fee (Article 29).

The Court serves the debtor at their national address, giving them ten working days to comply or face compulsory measures (Article 31). If the debtor fails to comply, the enforcement judge may, of their own motion or at the creditor’s request, inquire with the land registry, order an “attachment” of any real property (Article 77) and direct the registry to record a prohibition on disposition (Article 78). The attachment extends automatically to rent or other income generated by the property after the date of attachment (Article 79). Where the property is vacant, the debtor is normally deemed to be the receiver and may remain in possession rent-free pending sale, unless the judge appoints another receiver (Article 80).

If payment is still not forthcoming, the judge may order a public auction (Articles 82–96). Notice of the auction, reserve price, bid deposit and other terms are fixed by the Court and published at least 15 working days before the sale (Article 84). The successful bidder deposits the price in full; failure to do so forfeits the deposit and the auction reopens (Article 89). Finally, proceeds are distributed to secured and preferred creditors first, then pari passu among ordinary creditors (Articles 103–104). Any surplus is returned to the debtor.

Attachment of Earnings (Garnishment of Salaries and Wages)

A domestic judgment may be enforced against a debtor’s salary, wage or pension, subject to statutory limitations that balance creditor recovery with the debtor’s basic livelihood. Articles 57 and 31 allow the Court to issue a garnishment order directed to the debtor’s employer or pension authority. The order must be served on the garnishee, who is legally obliged to disclose and remit the attachable portion of earnings to the Court (Articles 100–102). However, attachment is limited to 25% of net monthly income. Where multiple debts exist, half of the garnished amount is reserved for court-ordered maintenance obligations; the balance covers other debts (Article 57). In such cases, the employer must comply and enjoys statutory immunity from liability for disclosing or paying over the attached sums (Article 101).

Third-Party Debt Orders (Garnishment of Bank Accounts and Other Debts)

Articles 100–102 create a system analogous to a third-party debt order. The judge may, on application or sua sponte, electronically inquire into and identify assets held by banks, brokers, tenants or any third party owing money to the debtor (Article 100). The Court issues an order freezing the specified account or debt and compelling the garnishee to pay the balance into the Court treasury (Article 102) unless the garnishee shows either a prior security right or a genuine dispute as to ownership of the funds. Non-compliance is met with contempt-type penalties, including potential fines and imprisonment (Articles 105–106).

The cost to register an enforcement case is QAR1,000. Before the case is formally registered, it is reviewed by the Preparatory Department (or Preparatory Circuit), a process that may take approximately 45 to 50 days. Once the registration is completed, attachment orders are typically issued within one to two weeks. Subsequent steps – such as public sale or auction proceedings – vary depending on the nature and availability of the debtor's assets, as well as the feasibility of enforcement against them.

As explained in 1.1 Options to Identify Another Party's Asset Position, the JEL provides for comprehensive post-judgment procedures to identify and locate a debtor’s assets. The enforcement judge is empowered to make electronic inquiries with banks, government authorities and other relevant entities to discover assets held by or on behalf of the judgment debtor, including real property, bank accounts, securities and movable property. These inquiries may be conducted on the judge’s own initiative or at the request of the creditor.

Entities and individuals in possession of the debtor’s assets are legally required to disclose such information and may not refuse to co-operate. The law also enables the judge to order the attachment or garnishment of any identified assets to satisfy the judgment. These mechanisms ensure that creditors have effective means to uncover and reach the debtor’s property, even if its location or existence was not previously known.

The debtor has several interconnected avenues – both procedural and substantive – through which it can resist, suspend or defeat enforcement once an application has been filed with the Enforcement Court.

Immediate Objections Before the Enforcement Judge (Article 33 of the JEL)

Once the debtor is served with the notice of enforcement at its National Address, it enjoys a short but critical window of ten working days to lodge an objection directly with the enforcement judge. The objection may be grounded on “full or partial payment, forgery, or any other grounds”. In practice, these “other grounds” commonly include:

• invalid or defective service of the originating proceedings or of the judgment itself;
• lack of capacity or representation in the underlying suit;
• absence of proper jurisdiction of the court that issued the title;
• clerical or calculation errors; and
• extinction, satisfaction, prescription or novation of the debt.

The judge may:

• summarily reject the enforcement;
• require the debtor to file a substantive lawsuit within a period not exceeding 90 working days and stay enforcement; or
• grant any other form of temporary relief they consider appropriate.

The stay can later be extended if the trial court or the enforcement judge deems it necessary.

Appeal to the Enforcement Court’s Appellate Chamber (Article 38)

Orders and decisions of the enforcement judge, including refusals to stay enforcement, are themselves open to appeal before a specially constituted chamber of the same court. The debtor must file a notice of appeal within ten working days of notification or actual knowledge of the order. The appellate chamber may suspend enforcement pending its decision. Its ruling is final and non-appealable.

Challenging Provisional Enforcement Before the Court of Appeal (Articles 8–10)

Where the underlying judgment is still open to ordinary appeal, execution is generally unavailable unless the title itself is declared provisionally enforceable. Even then, Article 10 permits the debtor to file the ordinary merits appeal and, within that same period, lodge a specific application to stay provisional enforcement. The Court of Appeal will grant a stay if it finds that the judgment is likely to be overturned on appeal or that enforcement would cause the debtor serious and irreparable harm. The Court may impose security (for example, a bank guarantee) as a condition of any stay.

Setting Aside or Appealing the Underlying Judgment

If the debtor did not previously challenge the judgment on jurisdictional or procedural grounds – such as defective service – it can still file an appeal on the merits (within the statutory period under the Civil and Commercial Procedure Law), arguing inter alia that the first-instance court lacked proper service or jurisdiction, or it can bring an action to nullify the judgment for fraud, forgery or lack of due process where such defects render the decision void under Qatari procedural law. A timely merits appeal, coupled with an application for stay of enforcement, is often the most direct route to halt execution.

In principle, a domestic judgment issued by the first instance court is unenforceable. A judgment still open to appeal cannot be subjected to compulsory enforcement unless there is a provision in the law or a specific order in the judgment permitting the provisional enforcement.

Where the dispute concerns governmental entities, the state’s publicly owned assets are generally immune from attachment and enforcement, preventing any order that attempts to seize or sell those public assets from being effective.

While there is no single public “central register of judgments” in Qatar, the Enforcement Court Register functions as the authoritative database for all domestic and foreign judgments, arbitral awards and other instruments actually placed into enforcement. A debtor who has fully satisfied the judgment must either pay through the Enforcement Court or file proof of payment, after which the enforcement judge will close the file, lift all measures and issue a formal certificate clearing the debtor’s record. Once the clearance order is communicated to the various registries, the debtor’s assets are unencumbered and the entry in the Enforcement Court Register is marked “satisfied”, effectively removing the judgment from any operative enforcement database.

When assessing enforcement of a foreign judgment, Qatari courts examine both formal requirements (for example, the presence of a complete and certified copy of the original judgment) and key substantive conditions, such as finality of the judgment and conformity with public order.

Under the JEL, foreign judgments can only be enforced if they satisfy several conditions. First, the court that rendered the foreign judgment must have exercised proper jurisdiction pursuant to its own rules. Second, the judgment must be final and conclusive according to the laws of the originating state, indicating that no further appeals remain pending or available. The Qatari court also requires evidence that the defendant was properly served and had sufficient opportunity to present a defence in the original proceedings. Moreover, the judgment must not contradict public policy or morals in Qatar, and it must not conflict with any prior decisions issued by Qatari courts. Finally, reciprocity generally applies, meaning that Qatari courts will refuse enforcement if the party seeking the enforcement fails to establish that a judgment issued by Qatari courts would be enforceable in the country where the foreign judgment originated.

As an additional requirement, the foreign judgment must be translated into Arabic by a certified translator and authenticated. Once the application for enforcement is submitted (together with supporting documents), the Enforcement Court reviews compliance with all legal standards before issuing its decision. If the enforcement judge finds that the applicant meets all statutory conditions, the judgment will effectively have the same authority as a domestic judgment and may be enforced through available measures such as attachment and sale of assets, garnishment of earnings or, in certain circumstances, travel bans or imprisonment.

International Conventions/Agreements

Qatar is party to several multilateral and regional agreements that streamline the enforcement of foreign judgments issued in other member states. Principal among these are:

• the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Protocol on the Enforcement of Court Judgements, Letters of Rogatory and Judicial Notices, which provides for reciprocal recognition of judgments among GCC member states; and
• the Riyadh Arab Agreement for Judicial Cooperation, which similarly enables simplified recognition of civil and commercial judgments rendered in other Arab League countries (although Qatar has signed this treaty, the necessary legislation to ratify it is still pending).

These conventions typically remove or reduce hurdles relating to reciprocity or jurisdictional challenges. Where a relevant treaty applies, the Qatari courts will look to that treaty’s provisions to determine whether direct or simplified recognition and enforcement should be granted.

In practice, the absence of any applicable international convention does not automatically prevent the enforcement of a foreign judgment; however, the applicant must then affirmatively demonstrate that Qatari judgments are recognised and enforceable in the other jurisdiction in accordance with reciprocal treatment rules. This reciprocity principle is rooted in Articles 13 and 14 of the JEL but is also reflected by broader Qatari jurisprudence, promoting a balanced and equitable approach to international judicial co-operation.

As a result, the legal landscape in Qatar concerning the enforcement of foreign judgments places emphasis on ensuring that foreign courts applied sound jurisdictional bases, afforded proper due process to defendants and issued final, conclusive decisions. Where all relevant criteria are met and none of these obstacles arise, Qatari courts show deference to foreign judgments, including those from jurisdictions that lack a bilateral or multilateral treaty with Qatar, so long as the principle of reciprocity is fulfilled.

Qatar's approach to enforcement does not vary for different types of judgments. Article 13 of the JEL refers to foreign judgments and orders without distinguishing between different types of judgments, whether final money judgments or otherwise.

Under Articles 13 to 16, the Enforcement Court will refuse to execute any foreign judgment that:

• has not yet acquired finality – this excludes interlocutory, provisional, interim, summary or otherwise appealable orders;
• was rendered by a court that lacked proper jurisdiction under Qatari rules of universal jurisdiction, including matters in which Qatari courts enjoy exclusive competence (for example, actions in rem concerning real estate situated in Qatar or proceedings involving sovereign or public assets);
• was obtained without proper service of process or effective representation of the defendant, such as judgments in default or rendered ex parte in circumstances that offend due-process guarantees;
• conflicts with a prior Qatari judgment or order, or with Qatari public order and morals;
• is based on a cause of action that is time-barred under Qatari limitation rules; or
• fails the reciprocity test, meaning Qatari judgments are not recognisable in the jurisdiction of origin.

The new regime centralises all enforcement work before a specialised Enforcement Court and replaces the enforcement provisions previously found in the Civil and Commercial Procedure Law. The procedure applies to money and non-money judgments rendered outside Qatar, whether the originating country is party to a treaty with Qatar or not; treaty provisions simply mitigate the reciprocity analysis.

Before filing, it is recommended (though not mandatory) to confirm that the judgment is final, conclusive and no longer appealable in the issuing state, and to verify that none of the grounds for refusal under Article 13 of the JEL are present, such as lack of proper jurisdiction of the foreign court, inadequate service or representation, absence of reciprocity, conflict with a prior Qatari judgment, or conflict with Qatari public policy or morals.

If the issuing state is a GCC or Riyadh Convention member, those treaties evidence reciprocity but do not displace the procedural steps. The applicant should:

• obtain an original or certified copy of the foreign judgment bearing the court seal;
• legalise or apostille the judgment through the usual diplomatic channel culminating in authentication by the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
• prepare a certified Arabic translation of the judgment and all accompanying documents;
• secure a certified statement from the issuing court (or its clerk) setting out the steps required to execute the judgment in the issuing state (Article 15); and
• if a legal representative will file the application, execute a power of attorney in their favour and legalise and translate it.

The enforcement application is filed with the Enforcement Court by completing the designated electronic form prescribed by Article 28 and submitting it via the Enforcement Court’s e-portal or at the Court registry, including mandatory data such as:

• the type, date and issuing entity of the judgment;
• the exact obligation (sum payable or act required);
• full particulars and national addresses of both the enforcement applicant and the judgment debtor; and
• supporting attachments (legalised judgment, translations, statement of foreign enforcement steps, power of attorney, and evidence of reciprocity, if relevant).

The filing fee must be paid, after which the application is registered and assigned an enforcement file number. A single enforcement judge reviews the file without a hearing (Article 35), confirming that the following Article 13 conditions are met:

• jurisdiction of the foreign court;
• proper service and representation;
• finality;
• no conflict with an existing Qatari judgment;
• no violation of public order or morals; and
• reciprocity (unless a treaty renders this automatic).

If any condition is missing, the judge refuses enforcement by order, and the applicant may appeal to the Enforcement Court’s appellate chamber within ten working days (Article 38). If the judge is satisfied regarding admissibility, the judgment is treated as an “enforceable title” and the Court serves it on the judgment debtor at the national address recorded in Qatar’s address system (Article 31). The notice gives the debtor ten working days to perform voluntarily or prove compliance, and warns that the debtor’s assets are frozen as of the notice date and that concealment or disposal constitutes a criminal offence (Article 105).

Before or immediately after service, the judge may do the following, on their own initiative or upon request:

• attach and seize movable or immovable property;
• order garnishment of bank accounts or receivables;
• ban the debtor from travel;
• suspend governmental services or business dealings; or
• order arrest or imprisonment (subject to Articles 42–44).

These measures are discretionary and aim to secure assets pending final enforcement (Article 36). Within ten working days of service, the debtor may file written objections limited to payment, forgery, satisfaction, limitation or other enforcement-specific grounds (Article 33). The judge may grant the debtor up to 90 working days to commence a substantive action and may stay enforcement during that period, with further extensions possible. If the judge considers that complex substantive issues arise, they may refuse enforcement and direct the parties to ordinary proceedings.

Any stakeholder may appeal the judge’s orders or decisions (including provisional measures, acceptance or refusal of enforcement, or dismissal of objections) to the appellate chamber within ten working days of notification (Article 38), and the appellate chamber’s decision is final and not subject to further challenge.

Absent successful objections or appeal, or once any appeal is dismissed, the judge issues a definitive enforcement order, and all provisional measures remain in force until satisfaction of the judgment or cancellation by the Court (Article 37). If the debtor still fails to comply, the judge proceeds to compulsory execution, including:

• sale of attached movables or immovables by public auction under Articles 82–95;
• garnishment of salaries, rents or dividends within the statutory ceilings;
• distribution of proceeds to preferential and ordinary creditors under Articles 103–104; and
• release of any surplus to the debtor.

Imprisonment or travel bans continue until the debtor performs, secures the debt or satisfies statutory conditions for release (Articles 40–44). All enforcement actions and restrictions are automatically cancelled once the judgment is satisfied in full (Article 37), the enforcement file is closed, and the Court issues certificates confirming discharge. This sequence provides a consolidated roadmap for turning a foreign judgment into executable relief in Qatar, balancing the debtor’s procedural rights with the creditor’s need for swift and effective enforcement under the JEL.

The fee for registering and initiating an enforcement case is QAR1,000. The typical timeline for obtaining a decision from the enforcement judge as to whether to accept or refuse the application ranges from four to eight weeks. If the application is refused, the decision can be appealed within ten days and the process before the Court of Appeal may take around three months. If the application is accepted, the enforcement process will start, including identifying, freezing and selling the defendant’s assets. This would take around two to four months, depending on the nature of the assets.

A party may challenge the enforcement of a foreign judgment in Qatar on several grounds, including:

• whether the judgment is final and conclusive, or if an appeal is pending or possible in the foreign jurisdiction – enforcement will be refused if the judgment is not final or is still subject to appeal;
• whether the foreign court had proper jurisdiction over the dispute;
• invalid or inadequate service of process or lack of proper representation in the foreign proceedings;
• whether the judgment or its enforcement would violate Qatari public policy or morals;
• if the judgment was obtained by fraud or in breach of due process;
• if the claim is barred by limitation under Qatari law; and
• if the judgment conflicts with a prior Qatari judgment or order.

The judgment debtor may file written objections on these or other enforcement-specific grounds within ten working days of service of the enforcement notice. The judge may grant time for the debtor to initiate substantive proceedings, and may stay enforcement during that period. Any stakeholder may appeal the enforcement judge’s orders or decisions, including acceptance or refusal of enforcement or dismissal of objections, to the appellate chamber of the Enforcement Court within ten working days of notification. The appellate chamber’s decision is final and not subject to further challenge. This framework ensures that both procedural and substantive objections to enforcement can be raised and adjudicated within the Qatari legal system.

Qatar recognises arbitral awards as enforceable instruments, as the JEL lists arbitral awards among the primary types of enforceable titles (Article 6). However, the law does not provide an extensive or detailed framework governing the enforcement process, nor does it make a distinction between the enforcement of domestic and foreign arbitral awards. Instead, the JEL refers to Law No 2 of 2017 Promulgating the Law of Arbitration in Civil and Commercial Matters (“Arbitration Law”), mainly for the grounds of refusal for the enforcement of these awards, as well as the grounds for annulment.

While the legal provisions remain limited in details, in practice Qatari courts have adopted a more arbitration-friendly approach in recent years, and have consistently enforced arbitral awards, whether issued in Qatar or abroad, so long as the relevant conditions are satisfied. In practice, the procedural requirements, particularly the list of documents needed to submit an application, are established internally by the judiciary or enforcement authorities.

Qatar enforces all arbitral awards, whether domestic or foreign, final or interim, institutional or ad-hoc – under a unified legislative framework. In any types of these awards, the Enforcement Court does not review the merits but checks for jurisdiction, due process, public policy and arbitrability before accepting the application to enforce the award.

Qatari law recognises arbitral awards as enforceable instruments, but certain categories of awards will not be enforced either by operation of law or as a result of procedural limitations. The primary bases for non-enforcement are as follows.

Awards on Non-Arbitrable Matters

Under Qatari law, certain subject matters are deemed non-arbitrable, and arbitral awards issued in relation to these matters will not be enforced. These subject matters include:

• labour disputes;
• personal status matters, including marriage, divorce, custody and inheritance;
• rental disputes;
• criminal matters, which remain within the exclusive jurisdiction of the state; and
• public policy and sovereign matters, such as those involving taxation, customs, immigration or acts of the state in its sovereign capacity.

These matters are considered non-arbitrable as they are either inherently linked to public order or fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of national courts.

The process for enforcing an arbitral award in Qatar involves the following steps.

• First, the enforcement can only be sought after the expiry of the time limit for filing an annulment action, as prescribed by the Arbitration Law (one month from the date of notification of the award, unless the parties have agreed in writing to extend this deadline).
• The party seeking enforcement must submit an application to the Enforcement Court. The application should include:
1. the original arbitral award if the language is Arabic, or a certified translation of the award into Arabic if the original is in another language;
2. a copy of the arbitration agreement or the contract that includes the arbitration agreement;
3. commercial registrar extracts of parties; and
4. in cases involving a foreign arbitral award, the court requests a certificate from the arbitral institution that issued the award, confirming that the award is final and has been duly notified to both parties.
• The court will first review the application to ensure all formal requirements are met, and will verify:
1. the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal;
2. that the award does not conflict with Qatari public policy or morals;
3. that the subject matter is arbitrable under Qatari law; and
4. that the award is not subject to an annulment proceeding.
• Following such initial review, the Enforcement Judge will allow the enforcement case to be registered. The debtor will be served with a notification from the Court and given a period (ten working days) to comply with award order or to provide evidence of non-compliance.
• If the debtor does not comply, the Enforcement Court may take a range of enforcement measures, such as attachment and sale of assets, travel bans or imprisonment, in accordance with the JEL.

The fee for registering and initiating an enforcement case is QAR1,000. The typical timeline for the enforcement judge to review the application and complete the registration process ranges from four to six weeks. If the application is refused, the decision can be appealed within 30 days and the process before the Court of Appeal may take around three months. If the application is accepted, the enforcement process will start, including identifying, freezing and selling the defendant’s assets. This would take around two to four months, depending on the nature of the assets.

Expiry of the Annulment Period

An application to enforce an arbitral award seated in Qatar will not be accepted or received if it is submitted before the expiry of the time period allowed for filing an annulment claim (Article 17 of the JEL). According to the Qatari Arbitration Law, an annulment action must be filed within one month from the date of notification of the award, unless the parties have agreed in writing to extend this deadline.

Grounds for Refusing Recognition and Enforcement of an Arbitral Award

An award may be resisted on the specific refusal grounds listed in Article 35 of the Arbitration Law. These grounds track the New York Convention of 1958, whereas recognition‎ or enforcement of any arbitral award may not be refused, regardless of the state in which it was issued, except in the following two cases as stipulated under Article 35 of the Qatari Arbitration law.

The party against whom the enforcement of the award is sought can submit evidence proving one of the following cases.

• One of the parties to the arbitration agreement at the time of its conclusion was incapacitated or incapacitated in accordance with the law governing their capacity, or the arbitration agreement is invalid, according to the law the parties have agreed to apply to the agreement or, if they do not agree, in accordance with the law of the state in which the judgment was rendered.
• The party against whom the judgment is sought has not been properly notified of the appointment of an arbitrator or the arbitration proceedings, or has been unable to present their defence for any other reason beyond their control.
• The arbitration award has ruled on matters not covered by the arbitration agreement or exceeded the limits of this agreement. However, if the parts of the award relating to matters subject to arbitration can be separated from the parts relating to matters not subject to arbitration, the parts of the arbitration award that have been decided on matters covered by the arbitration agreement or that have not exceeded this agreement may be recognised or enforced.
• The formation of the arbitral tribunal, the appointment of arbitrators or the arbitration proceedings were made contrary to the law or the agreement of the parties or, in the absence of an agreement, contrary to the law of the country in which the arbitration took place.
• The arbitration award is no longer binding on the parties, or has been set aside or suspended by a court of the state in which the award was rendered or in accordance with its law. ‎

The competent judge shall refuse to recognise or enforce the arbitral award, on his or her own initiative, in the following two cases:‎

• ‎if the subject matter of the dispute is such that it may not be agreed to be adjudicated by arbitration in accordance with the law of the state; or
• if the recognition or execution of the judgment is contrary to the public order of the state. ‎

An order rejecting the enforcement of an arbitral award may be appealed before the competent court within 30 days from the date of its issuance. Article 20 of the JEL affirms this right of recourse and refers to the appeal procedure set out in Article 35 of the Arbitration Law, which provides for a 30-day period if one of the grounds for refusal under that article is established. No further appeal is permitted against the decision of the appellate chamber.

Grounds for Setting Aside an Arbitral Award

Article 33 of the Arbitration Law lists exclusive grounds for annulment, which include the following.

• Incapacity or invalidity: one of the parties lacked legal capacity at the time the arbitration agreement was concluded, or the arbitration agreement itself was invalid under the applicable law.
• Procedural unfairness: the party seeking annulment was not properly notified of the arbitration or was otherwise unable to present their case for reasons beyond their control.
• Excess of authority: the arbitral tribunal ruled on matters not covered by the arbitration agreement or which exceeded the scope of the agreement. Partial annulment may occur if separable issues were addressed.
• Irregular tribunal composition or procedure: the tribunal was not constituted in accordance with the parties’ agreement or, in the absence of such agreement, in accordance with the law.

In addition, the court, on its own motion, must annul the award if the subject matter is non-arbitrable under Qatari law or if the award violates Qatari public policy.

If the competent judge finds that the foreign arbitration award sought to be recognised or enforced is contested before the court in the state in which it was issued, he or she may stay the enforcement case until the annulment case is ruled over by a final judgment.