Višje sodišče v Ljubljani; 2022-10-24; II Cp 1384/2022
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:SI:VSLJ:2022:II.CP.1384.2022
Date: 2022-10-24
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Slovenia

82022SI1024(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
This case, examined by the Višje sodišče v Ljubljani (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’), concerned the correctness of entries in a European Certificate of Succession (hereinafter ‘the Certificate’).
In June 2021, the Court of First Instance issued an additional decision on inheritance regarding the deceased’s property in Croatia, declaring the siblings A. A. and B. B. as heirs of the deceased. In July 2021, both heirs requested the issuance of a European Certificate of Succession using the standardised forms. The Court of First Instance issued the Certificate in accordance with Article 67 of the Succession Regulation (1) and Article 227b of the ZD (2) and provided certified copies valid until May 2022 under Article 70 of the Regulation.
In December 2021, the heir, B. B., lodged a submission pointing out several inaccuracies in the Certificate, including the omission of her name as an applicant, an incorrect address, and an incorrect indication of her share. The Court of First Instance did not treat this submission as a request for rectification or modification of the Certificate within the meaning of Article 71 of the Succession Regulation (and Article 227.c of the ZD), although these provisions require the issuing authority to rectify clerical errors and to modify the Certificate ex officio or upon request whenever it establishes that the Certificate or individual elements thereof are not accurate. Instead, the case file was transmitted to the Court of Appeal only in August 2022, by which time the certified copies had already expired.
The Court of Appeal first observed that the Court of First Instance should have treated B. B.’s submission as a request for rectification or modification under Article 71 and addressed it promptly, instead of forwarding it as an appeal eight months later. It held that the inaccuracies identified by B. B. were well-founded and that the Court of First Instance had erred in law by failing to examine her submission as a request for correction of the Certificate. However, the expiry of the certified copies did not remove the heirs’ legal interest in the appeal, since the issuing order and the Certificate constitute a single act, and the heirs could no longer obtain a correct Certificate by any other procedure.
Consequently, the Court of Appeal upheld the appeal, annulled the order of the Court of First Instance in its entirety (also in respect of A. A.) and remitted the case for a new decision. The Court of First Instance must re-decide on the request for the issuance of the Certificate, issue a corrected Certificate consistent with the additional inheritance decision and provide new certified copies enabling each heir to complete the land-registry procedure in Croatia.
(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 dedovanju (Inheritance Act).