Tribunal Supremo Madrid, Sentencia de 31/07/2003 154/2003 Dª. Esperanza (de soltera Rocío) / Dª. Claudia (de soltera Nuria)
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:ES:TS:2003:8359A
Date: 2003-07-31
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Spain

82003ES0731(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE SUMMARY
JURE SUMMARY
The applicant had obtained a payment judgment against the respondent from the Tribunal d'instance of Biarritz (FR) on 12 March 2002. The applicant applied to the Tribunal Supremo (ES), which was competent according to the autonomous Spanish law for the recognition of foreign judgments (until December 2003), for a declaration of enforceability of the French judgment.
The Tribunal Supremo (ES) dismisses the application. It examines whether the Brussels I Regulation is applicable. According to the Regulation, the Juzgado de Primera Instancia at the domicile of the debtor or at the place where enforcement is to be carried out is competent pursuant to Article 39 in conjunction with Annex II. The Tribunal Supremo (ES) holds that the Brussels I Regulation is to be applied pursuant to Article 66. The French judgment was issued after its entry into force on 1 March 2002. While the action was initiated before this date, the Brussels Convention applied between France and Spain at that time and therefore, acording to  Article 66(2)(a), the Brussels I Regulation is applicable. The court designated in Annex II to the Brussels I Regulation is therefore the competent court for the application for a declaration of enforceability, rather than the Tribunal Supremo.