Tallinna Ringkonnakohus; 2019-02-21; 2-17-7303/31
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:EE:TLRK:2019:2.17.7303.3585
Date: 2019-02-21
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters;Lugano Convention
Origin: Estonia

82019EE0221(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
In May 2017, the Ministry of Justice of Estonia forwarded to the Harju Maakohus (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) an application from the Ministry of Justice of Switzerland for recognition and enforcement of an agreement approved in August 2011 by the Swiss court, under which a person liable was obliged to pay maintenance and other child allowances of EUR 650.
The Court of First Instance invoked Article 41 of the new Lugano Convention (1), according to which ‘the judgment shall be declared enforceable immediately on completion of the formalities in Article 53 without any review under Articles 34 and 35’. As all conditions set out in Article 53 of the Convention were fulfilled, the Court of First Instance recognised the agreement of August 2011 and declared it enforceable in Estonia.
The person liable appealed the first instance conclusion arguing by a newer version of the maintenance agreement of September 2017, also approved by the Swiss court, pursuant to which the amount of the monthly payment was reduced to EUR 450, and therefore the recognition and enforcement of the agreement of August 2011 should be annulled.
The appeal was heard by the Tallinna Ringkonnakohus (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’), which cited Article 45 of the new Lugano Convention, according to which ‘(1) the court ... shall refuse or revoke a declaration of enforceability only on one of the grounds specified in Articles 34 and 35 ... (2)  under no circumstances may the foreign judgment be reviewed as to its substance’. The Court of Appeal tested the circumstances of the case against all conditions stipulated by Articles 34 and 35 of the new Lugano Convention and found no reason to refuse or revoke the first instance decision. It is true that the agreement of August 2011 was amended by the agreement of September 2017, but it was not annulled. If the person liable wishes to avoid the payment of EUR 650, then they must apply for the recognition and enforcement of the Swiss judgment approving the agreement of September 2017. The person liable also alleged the lack of their presence in the Estonian first instance proceedings, but the Court of Appeal held that pursuant to Article 41 of the new Lugano Convention ‘the party against whom enforcement is sought shall not at this stage of the proceedings be entitled to make any submissions on the application’ and therefore the presence of the person liable was not required. It was enough that the person liable was present in the proceedings in Switzerland. Moreover, the new evidence provided by the person liable was not considered as substantial to the decision.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and upheld the decision of the Court of First Instance.
(1) Convention on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.