Section I The Constitution of a Judgment Charge

Article 1085

Every creditor who has obtained an enforceable judgment rendered on the merits of the case in which the debtor is condemned to a liquidated amount, may, if he is of good faith, obtain as security for his claim in principal, interest and costs, a judgment charge over the immovable property of his debtor.

He cannot, after the death of the debtor, obtain a judgment charge on immovable property forming part of the estate.

Article 1086

A judgment charge cannot be obtained by virtue of a judgment rendered by a foreign court or by virtue of an arbitration award until the judgment or the award has been made enforceable.

Article 1087

A judgment charge may be obtained by virtue of a judgment confirming a compromise or an agreement between the parties, but not by virtue of a judgment rendered as to the validity of a signature.

Article 1088

A judgment charge can only be obtained on one or more specific immovables belonging to the debtor at the time of the inscription of this right and capable of being sold by public auction.

Article 1089

A creditor who wishes to obtain a judgment charge on the immovable property of his debtor must submit an application to the President of the Court of First Instance in the district in which the immovable property on which he desires to obtain the charge is situated.

An authenticated copy of the judgment or a certificate by the greffier of the court containing the operative part of the judgement must be annexed to this application which will contain the following particulars:

a) the creditor's surname, first names, profession, actual place of abode, and elected domicile within the town in which the court is situated;

b) the surname, first names, profession and place of abode of the debtor;

c) the date of the judgment and designation of the court that rendered the judgment;

d) the amount of the debt. If the debt mentioned in the judgment is not a liquid amount, the President of the court may liquidate it provisionally and fix the amount for which a judgment charge may be obtained; and

e) an exact and precise description of the immovable properties, their situation, together with documents establishing their value.

Article 1090

The President of the court will record his order for a judgment charge at the foot of the application.

The President of the court should, however, in giving an order for a judgment charge, take into consideration the amount of the debt and the approximate value of the immovable properties set out in the application, and should, if necessary, restrict the judgment charge to some or one only of these immovables, or to a part in an immovable if he considers that this is sufficient to secure the principal of the debt, the interest thereon and the cost thereof due to the creditors.

Article 1091

Upon the same day as the order authorizing the judgment charge is rendered, the greffier of the court must notify it to the debtor, endorse it on the authenticated copy of the judgment or on the certificate annexed to the application for a judgment charge, and inform the greffier of the court that has rendered the judgment so that he may endorse the order on any other copy of the judgment or on any other certificate that will be delivered to the creditor.

Article 1092

The debtor may lodge an appeal against the order authorizing the judgment charge either before the judge who has given the order or before the Court of First Instance.

An endorsement must be made, in the margin of the inscription, of any order or of any judgment annulling the order which has authorized the judgment charge.

Article 1093

If, either at the time of the application or as a result of an appeal by the debtor, the President of the court rejects the application of the creditor for a judgment charge, the creditor may appeal to the Court of First Instance against the order rejecting the application.