French Court Enforces Morocco’s 2014 Debt Judgment Against Moroccan National
A 2014 ruling in Morocco ordering payment of more than one million dirhams is now enforceable in France. Bank of Africa has won its case against a Moroccan national living in Orne who challenged the proceedings brought against him.
On October 16, 2014, the Marrakech Commercial Court ordered the man to pay 1,024,917 dirhams to the Moroccan Foreign Trade Bank (BMCE Bank of Africa). Moratory interest of 2% on the outstanding principal was also added.
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The case resurfaced in France ten years later. On June 12, 2024, the bank sent him a formal demand for 95,608.51 euros by registered mail. In February 2025, it sued him before the Argentan Judicial Court, seeking exequatur of the Moroccan judgment—that is, recognition of its enforceability in France.
The debtor asked for the summons to be annulled. He also sought a stay of proceedings pending a decision by the Court of Cassation in Rabat. The French court ruled that both procedural requests fell within the jurisdiction of the case management judge and could not be considered at this stage.
An appeal filed too late
In Morocco, the man appealed the 2014 judgment in February 2025. On May 7, the Marrakech Commercial Court of Appeal declared his appeal inadmissible because the statutory deadline had passed. He then filed an appeal to the Court of Cassation in September.
To reach its decision, the Argentan court relied on the 1957 Franco-Moroccan Judicial Convention. In particular, it examined whether the proceedings in Morocco were regular, whether the judgment was enforceable and whether it complied with French public policy. The bank submitted the judgment, a certificate confirming that no appeal had been filed, and several documents translated by a sworn translator.
The court found that the appeal to the Court of Cassation following the 2025 ruling did not prevent enforcement of the original 2014 judgment. In its ruling of September 30, 2026, it granted Bank of Africa’s request for exequatur and ordered the debtor to pay costs. The ruling is provisionally enforceable, giving the bank the option of enforcing in France the judgment handed down in Marrakech.
