Tribunalul Tulcea; 2019-02-22; 9782/327/2017
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:RO:TBTUL:2019:002.000210
Date: 2019-02-22
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Romania

82019RO0222(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
This case regards a dispute over the enforceability of a foreign judgment resolved by the Tribunalul Tulcea (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’).
Following the plaintiff’s request, the Judecătoria Tulcea (hereinafter ‘Court of First Instance’) confirmed the enforcement orders against the liable person (hereinafter ‘the defendant’). The basis for the request was a judgment given by the High Court of Justice in London (the United Kingdom) submitted by the plaintiff. Subsequently, the defendant appealed before the Court of First Instance and sought the annulment of the existing enforcement orders.
The defendant alleged that the foreign judgment serving as a basis for the enforcement orders was given in default of its appearance. The defendant claimed that it was not even notified of the foreign proceedings, which resulted in a serious breach of its right of defence. In such a situation, Article 45(1)(b) of the Brussels I Regulation (recast) (1) suggests that the recognition shall be refused. In support of its view that the recognition of the British judgment shall be refused, the defendant also cited Article 26 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 (2) and Articles 3 and 4 of Regulation (EC) No 805/2004 (3).
The Court of First Instance rejected the defendant’s appeal against the enforcement orders as unfounded. The enforcement orders were issued following the request of the plaintiff as the entitled person, who provided all documents requested for enforcement by Article 42 of the Brussels I Regulation (recast), including a copy of the foreign judgment and certificate attesting its enforceability. Article 39 of that Regulation then provides that ‘a judgment given in a Member State which is enforceable in that Member State shall be enforceable in the other Member States without any declaration of enforceability being required’. The same is provided by Article 636 of the C.proc.civ (4), according to which European Enforcement Orders in respect of which European Union law does not require prior recognition in the Member State of enforcement are enforceable by law, without any further procedure.
The defendant appealed to the Court of Appeal, alleging that the Court of First Instance lacked the subject-matter jurisdiction to decide on the case. The defendant also alleged that the Court of First Instance misapplied Article 45(1)(b) of the Brussels I Regulation (recast) and ignored the fact that the foreign judgment was given in default of its absence. Therefore, its right to defence was violated already in the United Kingdom.
The Court of Appeal first and foremost stated that the enforcement orders were issued by the same senate of the Court of First Instance, which later decided on the appeal against it. This approach was a significant breach of the civil procedure stipulated by Article 42(1) of the C.proc.civ. Such a decision must therefore be considered null and void. Thus, the Court of Appeal annulled the first instance decision and re-considered the whole case instead of the Court of First Instance.
The Court of Appeal re-examined the case file documents and assessed them under Articles 39, 42, 44, 45 and 46 of the Brussels I Regulation (recast). It confirmed that the plaintiff provided all necessary documents for enforcement as requested by the Brussels I Regulation (recast). The defendant’s objection, based on non-service of the documents initiating the British proceedings, was held unfounded. It was proved that the British court served the documents to the same defendant’s address as the defendant provided within the current Romanian proceedings.
Therefore, the defendant’s appeal was dismissed, and the enforcement orders were held valid.
(1) Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.
(2) Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 of 29 May 2000 on insolvency proceedings.
(3) Regulation (EC) No 805/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 creating a European Enforcement Order for uncontested claims.
(4) Codul de Procedură Civilă (Code of Civil Procedure).