Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2002:233
Date: 2002-04-18
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968;Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968 - Jurisdiction
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Belgium

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments — Scope — Civil and 
commercial matters — Definition of civil matters — Action under a right of recourse 
brought by a public body for recovery from a persoti governed by private law of sums 
paid by it by way of social assistance to the divorced spouse and child ofthat person — 
Included — Exception — Action founded on provisions conferring on the public 
body a prerogative of its own 
(Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968, Art. 1, first para.) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-271/00 
2. Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments — Scope — Matters 
excluded — Social security — Definition — Definition by reference to Regulation 
No 1408/71 
(Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968, Art. 1, second para., point 3; Council 
Regulation No 1408/71) 
3. Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments — Scope — Matters 
excluded — Social security — Definition — Action under at right of recourse 
brought by a public body for recovery from a person governed by private law of 
sums paid by it by way of social assistance to the divorced spouse and child of that 
person — Excluded from that definition 
(Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968, Art. 1, second para., point 3; Council 
Regulation No 1408/71) 
1. The first paragraph of Article 1 of the 
Convention of 27 September 1968 on 
Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of 
Judgments in Civil and Commercial 
Matters, as amended by the Conven­
tion of 9 October 1978 on the Acces­
sion of the Kingdom of Denmark, 
Ireland and the United Kingdom of 
Great Britain and Northern Ireland and 
by the Convention of 25 October 1982 
on the Accession of the Hellenic 
Republic, must be interpreted as mean­
ing that the concept of 'civil matters' 
encompasses an action under a right of 
recourse whereby a public body seeks 
from a person governed by private law 
recovery of sums paid by it by way of 
social assistance to the divorced spouse 
and the child of that person, provided 
that the basis and the detailed rules 
relating to the bringing of that action 
are governed by the rules of the ordi­
nary law in regard to maintenance 
obligations. 
In such a case, the legal situation of the 
public body vis-à-vis the person liable 
for maintenance is comparable to that 
of an individual who, having paid on 
whatever ground another's debt, is 
subrogated to the rights of the original 
creditor, or is comparable to the situ­
ation of a person who, having suffered 
loss as a result of an act or omission 
imputable to a third party, seeks repar­
ation from that party. 
However, where the action under a 
right of recourse is founded on provi­
sions by which the legislature conferred 
on the public body a prerogative of its 
own, that action cannot be regarded as 
being brought in 'civil matters'. That 
would be the case where the provisions 
in question allow the public body to 
disregard an agreement lawfully 
entered into between spouses or former 
spouses, producing binding effects 
between them and enforceable against 
third parties, and thus placing the 
public body in a legal situation which 
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BATEN 
derogates from the ordinary law. That 
would be all the more so where those 
provisions allow the public body to 
disregard an agreement approved by a 
judicial decision and covered by the 
force of res judicata attaching to that 
decision. 
(see paras 34, 36-37, 
operative part 1) 
2. The substance of the concept of 'social 
security' in the second paragraph of 
Article 1 of the Convention of 27 Sep­
tember 1968 on Jurisdiction and the 
Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and 
Commercial Matters, as amended by 
the Convention of 9 October 1978 on 
the Accession of the Kingdom of Den­
mark, Ireland and the United Kingdom 
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 
and by the Convention of 25 October 
1982 on the Accession of the Hellenic 
Republic encompasses the matters 
covered by Regulation No 1408/71, 
as defined in Article 4 thereof and 
clarified in the Court's case-law. 
(see para. 45) 
3. Point 3 of the second paragraph of 
Article 1 of the Convention of 27 Sep­
tember 1968 on Jurisdiction and the 
Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and 
Commercial Matters, as amended by 
the Convention of 9 October 1978 on 
the Accession of the Kingdom of Den­
mark, Ireland and the United Kingdom 
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 
and by the Convention of 25 October 
1982 on the Accession of the Hellenic 
Republic must be interpreted as mean­
ing that the concept of 'social security' 
does not encompass the action under a 
right of recourse by which a public 
body seeks from a person governed by 
private law recovery in accordance 
with the rules of the ordinary law of 
sums paid by it by way of social 
assistance to the divorced spouse and 
the child of that person. 
Such an action under a right of 
recourse brought by that body against 
a third party, a person governed by 
private law, as the subject of an 
obligation to pay maintenance to the 
persons assisted, is not concerned with 
the conditions under which the benefits 
in question are granted but with 
recovery of the sums paid in that 
regard, so that it does not concern the 
application of Regulation No 1408/71. 
(see paras 46-47, 49, 
operative part 2) 
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