The court cannot go outside the parameters of the law when it is deciding whether to enforce a foreign judgement in Malta. This was held by the Court of Appeal on 8 May 2025, presided over by Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti and judges Christian Falzon Scerri and Josette Demicoli. The case was lawyer Malcolm Mifsud noe. vs Winthrop Woodrow Asset Management SCC Limited.
The case dealt with the recognition and enforcement of a judgement delivered in the Commercial Cassation Circuit in the United Arab Emirates under Article 826 and 828 of the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure.
In his application, Malcolm Mifsud, representing Baha Khalid Ahmed Al Far explained that the Civil Court of First Instance in Dubai ordered Aria Holding Limited and Aria Asset Management Limited to pay him over €1 million and 6% interest. This ruling was confirmed on appeal and later in the Commercial Cassation Circuit.
Winthrop Woodrow Asset Management SCC Limited, formerly known as Aria Asset Management (Malta) SCC Limited, filed a reply. The company argued that it was not notified of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) proceedings and therefore, the judgement should not be enforced. Another reason for the judgement not to be enforced is that it was in breach of an arbitration clause in a contract that they entered into and therefore, the court in the UAE could not decide the merits of the case. Thirdly, there was no order in the UAE judgement allowing its execution in Malta.
The Court of First Instance held that the UAE judgement referred to Aria Asset Management SCC, however, later the name of the company was changed to Winthrop Woodrow Asset Management SCC Limited.
The first court held that for a judgement to be enforceable, the court must be convinced that the defendant is the correct party of those proceedings.
The first court said it acknowledged that the UAE court permitted a correction in the name of the defendant, but the original judgement had the name of the defendant with ‘Malta’ and ‘Limited’ missing. The court argued that leaving the word ‘Limited’ out is not a small error, since it identifies the entity as a company. Due to these errors, the first court rejected the claim that the UAE judgement is enforceable in Malta.
Mifsud appealed. The Appeals Court explained that according to Article 826 of the COCP a foreign (non-EU) judgment may be enforceable by a Maltese competent court. A judgement cannot be enforced only if: The judgement may be attacked in terms of a retrial; if the ruling was given by default and if it was contrary to public order.
The Court of Appeal held that the court should give a narrow interpretation of Article 827 of the COCP and the court should not refuse to enforce a foreign judgement on a ground outside those listed in this article. The Maltese courts cannot enter into the merits of the case. Neither should the court compare and contrast the foreign law with Maltese law. It cannot argue that the judgement would not be enforceable if it were given in Malta.
Winthrop argued that according to law, the case should be heard again if the sworn application is not notified to the losing party.
The Court of Appeal held that the names of the parties in the case are important, because they identify the parties who are bound by the judgement. On the other hand, if a party is identified, an error in the name should not have any consequences. The Court of Appeal points out that the three UAE judgements did not indicate Winthrop as a party to the court action in the UAE. However, the company changed its name in 2020 from Aria Asset Management (Malta) Limited to Winthrop Woodrow Asset Management SCC Limited. The defendant company in the UAE judgement reads Aria Asset Management SCC. In 2024, the UAE court allowed a correction to the judgement and the name changed to Aria Asset Management (Malta) SCC Limited.
The Court of Appeal disagreed with the first court that Winthrop did not participate in the proceedings in the UAE.
The Court of Appeal moved to uphold the appeal and referred the case back to the first court to deal with the other two pleas raised by the Defendant.
Av. Malcolm Mifsud
Founding Partner
Mifsud & Mifsud Advocates
This article may also be accessed on MaltaToday.
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