Cap. 333 Art. 12Enforcement of foreign decisions, etc., in respect of air en route navigation services.

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this article, where a relevant authority in a Contracting Party has decided as to whether or not any sum is due to Eurocontrol in respect of en route air navigation services provided by it or by some other person, the decision creditor may apply to the Court of Appeal, at any time within twelve months after the date of the decision to have the decision registered in one of the Superior Courts of Malta.

(2) On any application as mentioned in subarticle (1), the Court of Appeal shall, subject to the provisions of this article, order the decision to be registered accordingly.

(3) A decision shall not be registered as aforesaid if it is not a decision described in Article 11 of Annex IV to the Convention or if it is a decision falling within the list of Article 12 of Annex IV to the Convention.

(4) For the purposes of this article proceedings in respect of a sum payable to Eurocontrol must be brought against the person liable to pay the sum in the country according to Article 8 of Annex IV to the Convention, and an application as mentioned in subarticle

(1) must be accompanied by those documents specified in Article 14 of Annex IV to the Convention.

(5) Where a decision is registered under this article -

(a) the decision shall, as from the date of registration, be of the same force and effect, and executive proceedings may be taken thereon, as if it had been a judgment originally obtained on the date of registration in the registering court; and its registration in the Public Registry may be made in accordance with such law, as may from time to time be in force, relative to the registration of judgments in the Public Registry;

(b) that decision shall be enforceable by the registering court as if such decision were a judgment delivered by that court;

(c) the costs of and incidental to the registration of the decision (including the costs of obtaining a certified copy thereof from the original court or tribunal or administrative authority and of the application for registration) shall be recoverable in like manner as if they were sums payable under the decision.

(6) The Rule Making Board set up under article 29 of the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure shall have power to make rules to provide -

(a) for the mode of registration of decisions referred to in this article;

(b) for service on the decision debtor of notice of the application for the registration of a decision under this article;

(c) for enabling the registering court, on an application by the decision debtor, to set aside the registration of a decision; and

(d) for suspending the execution of a decision registered under this article until the expiration of the period during which the decision debtor may apply to have the registration set aside.

(7) In any action brought in any court in Malta on any decision which might be ordered to be registered under this article, the plaintiff shall not be entitled to recover any costs of the action unless an application to register the decision under this article has previously been refused, or unless the court otherwise orders.

(8) Nothing in this article contained shall be construed to be in derogation of the provisions contained in the British Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act and in Title V of Book Third of the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure, or in any other law relating to the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgements, in regard to the enforcement of foreign judgments to which subarticle (1) does not apply.