Oberster Gerichtshof, Urteil vom 25/02/2004 3 Ob 7/04g
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:AT:OGH0002:2004:0030OB00007.04G.0225.000
Date: 2004-02-25
Subject matter: Lugano Convention
Origin: Austria

82004AT0225(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE SUMMARY
JURE SUMMARY
An Austrian court at the request of the plaintiff, declared three judgements of a Polish court from 1991, 1997 and 1998 enforceable in Austria, and granted the seizure of goods in order to pay arrears in maintenance, but not ongoing maintenance. The court of appeal affirmed the judgment. The plaintiff lodged an appeal before the OGH (AT). The plaintiff considered that the Lugano Convention was applicable.
The OGH dismisses the appeal and holds that the provisions of Article 54(1) Lugano Convention can only be applied to legal proceedings instituted after its entry into force in the State of origin. Hence, the principal of non-retroactivity is valid. The Convention entered into force on 1 February 2000 in Poland. In the present case, all three judgments were given before the entry into force of the Lugano Convention in the state of origin (Poland), and accordingly the requirements of Article 54(1) are not fulfilled. The same applies to Article 54(2) Lugano Convention, which assumes that in case of lawsuits filed before its entry into force, at least the judgment will have been issued after its entry into force in the State of origin and the State addressed. As a result, the Lugano Convention does not apply in the present case.