Provisional enforcement of a judgment
Whether a judgment can be enforced provisionally depends on whether it is provisionally enforceable. A judgment can be enforced on a provisional basis when it is enforceable notwithstanding appeal.
Provisional enforceability is now the rule
Since 1 November 2015, all adversarial judgments against which an appeal has been lodged are, in principle, provisionally enforceable. As a result, you can have your judgment enforced by a bailiff, even if appeal proceedings are still pending and the ruling is not yet final.
Non-enforceability of a default judgment
Judgments rendered by default, against which an objection or an appeal has been filed, are in principle not provisionally enforceable. You must therefore wait for the opposition proceedings to be completed before you can enforce the decision.
Provisional enforcement of judgments can be risky
Although, in the cases provided for by law, you are entitled to proceed with the provisional enforcement of a judgment despite an appeal or objection, such enforcement is not without risk.
When a party enforces a judgment against which a legal remedy can still be used, or has already been used, that enforcement takes place at that party’s own risk (Article 1398 of the Belgian Judicial Code). A judgment is not enforced automatically: provisional enforcement always takes place on the initiative of one of the parties. (wanted.law)
If the appeal or objection is later declared well-founded and the original judgment that was enforced is changed, the enforcing party will be liable for any damage caused by that enforcement, because it turned out to have been unjustified.
It is therefore advisable to act very cautiously before actually enforcing judgments against which an appeal or objection is still possible, or against which such remedies have in fact already been brought.
Liability arising from provisional enforcement is also a form of strict liability. This means the enforcing party may be held liable without the injured party having to prove fault. By simply enforcing a judgment that may still be overturned, one consciously chooses to take that risk.