Appellants must explicitly and separately claim to overturn an exequatur order, not merely to set it aside
Arbitration analysis: Under French law, appeals against exequatur orders may take the form of either a request to annul (annulation) or to overturn (réformation). These have distinct procedural implications: the former is limited to formal defects; the latter opens the door to substantive review akin to annulment of awards rendered in France. Both must be explicitly pleaded, and in due time. The International Commercial Chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal, in a decision dated 8 July 2025, held that, in an appeal against an order granting exequatur of an arbitral award rendered abroad, the appellant must explicitly and distinctly request that the exequatur order be overturned—and not merely set aside, within three months of filing the appeal. Otherwise, the court will consider that it has not been properly seized of the claim and will decline to rule on it. This decision highlights the strict procedural requirements under Articles 908, 910-4, and 954 of the French Code of Civil Procedure (the ‘FCCP’) and serves as a reminder for practitioners to clearly set out all claims in the operative part of their submissions within the prescribed time limits. Written by Raphaël Kaminsky and Giorgos Zachariadis, of Teynier PIC.