Judgments imposing liability may be enforced immediately after they are signed, i.e. when they are not subject to any further appeal, because all such issues have been resolved or no appeal has been brought. However, even if an appeal or an extraordinary appeal is pending, the party who has obtained the ruling in their favor may proceed with provisional enforcement of the judgment, except on rare occasions (e.g. with regard to non financial judgments, relationships, and marital and honorary rights; or in the case of judgments that impose a declaration of intent; or those which declare the invalidity or expiration of rights to industrial property; or unsigned foreign judgments; or compensatory judgments on fundamental rights to the one’s good name, privacy and reputation). Thus, the law seeks to protect creditors, who do not have to wait for the final outcome of the appeals process to obtain final judgment to recover debt claims, even though this entitlement may be provisional.
Thus, the party who has obtained judgment imposing liability in their favour may present an enforcement order before the court of first instance. If the formal requirements have been met, the court will order the enforcement under the ordinary rules for the implementing of court judgments, and the party on whom the judgment is imposed is obliged to compy with it or will be compelled to do so. If the judgment is to pay an amount of money, the court will proceed to seise the debtor’s property and, if necessary, to auction them to satisfy the claim of the judgment creditor with the proceeds of the sale.
The defendant may challenge the provisional enforcement, but only for the limited reasons specified by law. It is only possible to allege lack of procedural requirements or, in the case of non-monetary liability, the impossibility or severe difficulty in restoring the original situation if the judgment is reversed on appeal; in cases involving liability to pay monetary amounts, that latter ground is not available except with regard to specific executive measures (e.g., in relation to a specific charge), offering alternative measures and a bond to cover any damages caused by the delay in implementation. The notice of opposition to the provisional enforcement shall be given to the judgment creditor, to allow him to submit his response and, if it concerns a non-monetary enforcement, to enable the party seeking enforcement to offer an amount to ensure the restoration or compensation in damages should the order be overturned on appeal. The court will rule on the said challenge, granting or rejecting it as the case may be, and ordering the suspension or continuation of provisional enforcement.
If the provisionally enforced judgment was revoked by the Provincial Court or the Supreme Court on appeal; then the judgment creditor is obliged to return what he has received in the provisional enforcement and to compensate the successful appellant for any damages caused. It must be bourne in mind that the revocation may be total or partial and that the judgment and imposition of liability may be monetary or otherwise, and will be treated differently accordingly. When a monetary judgment is revoked in total, the judgment creditor must return the full amount charged, pay the costs of the enforcement and provide compensaiton for any damages incurred; if the revocation is only partial, the judgment creditor is only required to repay the difference obtained (plus legal interest on that amount), but is not required either to pay costs or compensation. When the revocation affects a non-monetary judgment, if the judgment is to give something, that thing must be given back plus any income, benefits or the monetary value obtained from having used it; or if such return is not possible, the judgment debtor must be offered the economic value of the property and compensation for damages caused; and if the judgment imposed is to perform, then the judgment debtor has the right to dispose of what has been done at the expense of the judgment creditor, and to be compensated for damages.