Brandenburgisches Oberlandesgericht; 2020-05-11; 7 W 46/19
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:DE:OLGBB:2020:0511.7W46.19.00
Date: 2020-05-11
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Germany

82020DE0511(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
The applicant (hereinafter ‘the plaintiff’) filed an application seeking that decision made by a Polish Court of Appeal (hereinafter ‘the Polish decision’) against the opponent of the application (hereinafter ‘the defendant’) be declared enforceable. In addition, the plaintiff demanded to also be paid the applicable statutory interest rate for payments ordered by the Polish Court.
By the Polish decision, the defendant was ordered to pay to the plaintiff several outstanding amounts including interest.
The Landgericht Frankfurt (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) declared the Polish decision to be enforceable and extended the Polish decision to include the requested interest.
The defendant lodged an immediate appeal with the Brandenburgisches Oberlandesgericht (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’) claiming that the legal representative who was appointed for him for the proceedings had not looked after his interests adequately. The plaintiff also filed a cassation complaint with the Supreme Court in Warsaw demanding the enforcement to be stayed.
The immediate appeal was found to be admissible but not justified.
The formal preconditions for the declaration of enforceability under Articles 38 and 41 of the Brussels I Regulation had been met (1). No reasons existed for the refusal of the enforcement. Pursuant to Article 45(2) of the Brussels I Regulation, a decision which is to be enforced abroad may not be examined as to its merits. In addition, the Polish decision did not violate German public policy.
In the time from the initiation of the proceedings until the decision by the Supreme court in Warsaw, the defendant had not presented any arguments supporting the staying of the proceedings which would enable his case to be successful.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal of the defendant against the decision of the Court of First Instance and ordered the Polish decision to be declared enforceable.
(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.