Vrhovno sodišče Republike Slovenije; 2024-08-21; II Ips 14/2024
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:SI:VSRS:2024:II.IPS.14.2024
Date: 2024-08-21
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Slovenia

82024SI0821(52)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
The reasoning of the Court of Appeal that, under the Succession Regulation (1), an enforceable decision is a decision which, under German law, permits registration in a public register and is enforceable in another Member State if, at the request of a party, it has been declared enforceable, is erroneous for two reasons.
First, because the conditions for the proposed registration in the land register are not governed by the Succession Regulation, nor by German law, as held by the Court of Appeal, but by the ZZK-1 (2).
Second, and more importantly, a German certificate of inheritance (gemeinschaftlicher Erbschein) (even for the purposes of Article 43 of the Succession Regulation) is not an enforceable decision and therefore cannot be the subject of a certificate of enforceability under either Slovenian or German law. The Court of Appeal therefore also erred in relying on Article 227h of the ZD (3), which governs the procedure for declaring enforceability in accordance with Article 45 of the Succession Regulation.
In accordance with recitals 34, 35 and 59 of the Succession Regulation, and having regard to the rule on lis pendens, the general objective of the Regulation is the mutual recognition of decisions given in Member States in matters of succession. The provisions of Article 39 of the Succession Regulation are therefore also legally relevant in assessing whether a German certificate of inheritance serves as a basis for entry in the land register.
(1) Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and acceptance and enforcement of authentic instruments in matters of succession and on the creation of a European Certificate of Succession.
(2) Zakon o zemljiški knjigi (Land Register Act).
(3) Zakon o dedovanju (Inheritance Act).