South African courts can enforce foreign civil judgments -- even from Russia, which has been sanctioned by the West for its war on Ukraine -- if a court in this country grants permission.

A Russian Orthodox Church television company has successfully attached Google South Africa's assets after pursuing legal action against the tech firm in this country.

No assets will be physically seized or removed though: the attachment is judicial, meaning the court order - used in debt collection - essentially freezes a debtor's specific assets to ensure there are funds available to pay a potential judgment if the creditor wins the case.

In this case, the assets of Google LLC have already been attached by the sheriff at Google's South African premises in Bryanston.

The Orthodox Television Fund, known as No Fond Pravoslavnogo Televideniya, which operates the Russian media company Spas, obtained a civil judgment in Moscow against Google LLC -- the American multinational's Russian subsidiary -- in March last year, for losses stemming from the shutdown of its YouTube channel.

Google stopped selling online advertising in Russia in March 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine, but kept some free services available. It also shut down the church's YouTube channel.

On 14 March 2023, the Moscow Arbitrazh Court ruled in favour of the foundation's YouTube channel, ordering Google LLC not only to reinstate it but also to pay a monetary penalty because the...