Judecatoria Sector 3 Bucuresti; 2018-03-29; 21078/301/2017
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:RO:JDS3B:2018:001.003627
Date: 2018-03-29
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Romania

82018RO0329(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
This case regards an application for debt repayment addressed to the Judecătoria Sectorul 3 București (hereinafter ‘Court of First Instance’).
A plaintiff applied before the Court of First Instance and sought the company domiciled in France (hereinafter ‘the defendant’) to be ordered to pay the outstanding debt and contractual penalties until full payment of the amount due. The alleged debt had arisen out of a contract for IT consultancy services, which the plaintiff provided for the defendant’s activities in Romania, but which remained unpaid. The Court of First Instance issued a European order for payment according to Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006 (1). Following the defendant’s statement of opposition in compliance with that Regulation, the Court of First Instance rejected the order.
In the subsequent hearing, the plaintiff relied on the contractual jurisdictional clause favouring the Court of First Instance. The plaintiff reliably proved the existence of the contractual obligation and the outstanding debt in compliance with the provisions of the CPC (2).
The defendant sought the action to be dismissed and deemed the contractual penalties to be null and void under the provisions of the Legea 72/2013 (3). However, the Court of First Instance explained that the purpose of this law is precisely the opposite. Its purpose is to protect the creditor in case of late payments and set the debtors’ penalties. It does not confer additional rights on the debtor. The defendant, in this case, is the debtor, so he cannot rely on this particular law.
After examining the contractual documents, invoices, report of the service provided and the contractual communication between the parties, the Court of First Instance granted the plaintiff’s application and ordered the defendant to pay the outstanding debt.
(1) Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 creating a European order for payment procedure.
(2) Codul de Procedură Civilă (Code of Civil Procedure).
(3) Legea 72/2013 privind măsurile pentru combaterea întârzierii în executarea obligaţiilor de plată a unor sume de bani rezultând din contracte încheiate între profesionişti şi între aceştia şi autorităţi contractante (Law No 72/2013 on measures to combat late payment obligations arising from contracts concluded between professionals and between professionals and contracting authorities).