Tribunal Supremo. Sala de lo Civil; 2019-09-25; ATS 9642/2019
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:ES:TS:2019:9642A
Date: 2019-09-25
Subject matter: Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968;Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Spain

82019ES0925(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
This case regards a question of admissibility of a cassation appeal brought before the Tribunal Supremo (hereinafter ‘the Supreme Court’).
The Juzgado de Primera Instancia n.º 1 de Lalín (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) issued an order concerning the execution of a non-judicial title, which was later upheld by an order of the Audiencia Provincial de Pontevedra (Sección 3.ª) (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’).
The legal representatives of the parties concerned applied for an extraordinary and cassation appeal before the Supreme Court alleging infringement of procedural rules.
The Supreme Court recalled that a cassation appeal may only be filed in special cases strictly enumerated by national law. According to Article 477(2) of the LEC (1), certain judicial decisions are excluded from the cassation appeal completely, and this enumeration also includes the order in question. The LEC allows only limited judgments issued in the second instance to be reviewed under the cassation appeal. With regard to these decisions, the only exception of their admissibility for a cassation appeal would be a cassation appeal on a matter of law related to proceedings for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments pursuant to the Brussels Convention (2), the Lugano Convention (3), the Brussels I Regulation (4) or any other legal instrument of a similar nature.
The contested order of the Court of Appeal does not fall under this exception, so the decision of the lower court cannot be the subject of a cassation appeal, it must be upheld and declared final pursuant to Articles 483(4) and 473(2) of the LEC.
The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal requesting the admission of an extraordinary and cassation appeal as substantially unfounded.
(1) Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil (LEC) (Code of Civil Procedure).
(2) Brussels Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.
(3) Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters – Done at Lugano on 16 September 1988.
(4) Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.