🇷🇺🇰🇿 𝗘𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲

The public policy defense is an extremely powerful tool against the enforcement of foreign court decisions and/or foreign arbitral awards in Russia. It has been so for quite a while.

In Russia, there is no concept of international public policy. Instead, since 2022, a new concept has emerged – the temporarily applied public policy doctrine. This concept has allowed Russian courts, often erroneously, to rely on presidential decrees on counter-sanctions measures to refuse recognition and enforcement of foreign court decisions and/or arbitral awards.

That said, it is worth noting that some courts and judges apply the public policy defense properly and do not allow debtors to evade their obligations. In a recent case (No. А76-43222/2024), a cassation court rejected the debtor’s reference to public policy, finding that no evidence had been presented to show that enforcement of the court decision would breach Russian public policy (decision of August 29, 2025).

Consequently, a decision rendered by a court of the Republic of Kazakhstan was recognized and enforced in the Russian Federation.

ProArbitration.Ru