Harju Maakohus; 2017-05-04; 2-17-3380/12
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:EE:HMK:2017:2.17.3380.15889
Date: 2017-05-04
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters;Lugano Convention
Origin: Estonia

82017EE0504(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
In March 2017, a plaintiff applied for the divorce of their marriage. The Harju Maakohus (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) granted the application and divorced the marriage. Neither party appealed the divorce.
In April 2017, the plaintiff invoked Article 39 of the new Brussels II Regulation (1) and applied for a certificate of divorce in English language.
The Court of First Instance held that such an application cannot be granted, because the new Brussels II Regulation is applicable only in the Member States of the European Union, which is not the case of Norway (2). In situations such as in the present case, the new Lugano Convention (3) must be applied, specifically its Article 54, according to which ‘the court or competent authority of a State bound by this Convention where a judgment was given shall issue, at the request of any interested party, a certificate using the standard form in Annex V to this Convention’.
On this basis, the Court of First Instance issued the requested certificate to the plaintiff under the new Lugano Convention.
(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 of 27 November 2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000.
(2) Note: the judgment is anonymized, the relation to Norway is not explained therein.
(3) Convention on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.