Before asking whether you can win, ask what pursuing it costs.
We work on refusals: money that stopped, redemptions that were blocked, assets that were never transferred. The first thing we produce is arithmetic, because in cross-border matters the arithmetic often decides the strategy.
Court fees to enforce a foreign judgment
Two of these jurisdictions cap what the court can charge you. The rest scale with the size of your claim, which reverses the usual logic: a larger claim can be cheaper to pursue somewhere that caps, and a small one is rarely worth the proportional route.
| Where you enforce | Basis | Ceiling | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADGM | 2% of the judgment value | USD 3,000 | Courts schedule of fees |
| DIFC | 1% of the judgment value | USD 20,000 | Schedule of fees, part VI |
| England | Scaled to the value of the claim | GBP 10,000 | Civil Proceedings Fees Order |
| Netherlands | Banded by claim value, legal entities | EUR 10,487 | Court fees act, 2026 table |
| Dubai | 2% of the amount due on execution | not established | Judicial fees law |
| Spain | Individuals exempt from court fees entirely | EUR 0 | Court fees act, article 4 |
| Malta | Fixed application fee | under EUR 100 | Tariff schedule |
| Widely repeated figures for Spanish appeal and cassation fees were struck down as unconstitutional and no longer apply. If a source quotes them to you, it has not been updated in some years. | |||
Why the ceilings matter
On a claim of several million, the difference between a capped and an uncapped forum is larger than most people's legal budget.
What the table does not show
Security for costs. Some jurisdictions require a non-resident claimant to put up money before being heard.
What we check first
Whether anything remains to enforce against. A cheap forum is still a loss if the debtor emptied it two years ago.
The order we work in
Establish what is left
Assets, where they sit, and whether they have moved. This comes before any question of merits.
Fix the clock
Which limitation period governs and from when it runs. Three years in one place, thirty in another, and the shorter one rarely announces itself.
Choose the forum
Route, conditions, and cost. Sometimes the answer is to secure at home first and litigate second.
Price it honestly
Court fees, translation, legalisation, local counsel. If the arithmetic does not work, we say so in the assessment.
The assessment is the product
Not a consultation and not a promise. A written document: whether there is a basis, which procedure applies, what it costs, and what would change the answer.
We never approach anyone first and we take no fee in advance against a promised return of assets. Anyone who does is describing something else.