Nejvyšší soud České republiky; 2014-08-27; 30 Nd 215/2014
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:CZ:NS:2014:30.ND.215.2014.1
Date: 2014-08-27
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Czechia

82014CZ0827(52)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
The investment fund CREAM asked, via the bailiff, the Okresní soud Břeclav (hereinafter "the District court Břeclav") for the seizure of assets of P.N., a citizen of the Slovak Republic. The bailiff did so because of an enforceable title confirming the debt of P.N.
According to § 45(2) of the Exekuční řád (1), the court of the respondent's domicile has jurisdiction. If the respondent does not have his domicile in the Czech Republic, the court of the place where the respondent has his property has the jurisdiction. However, the trade license of P.N. had already expired and District court Břeclav was unable to identify his current domicile. Moreover, the fact of having property in the Czech Republic could be clarified only after the enforcement was authorized by the court, and not beforehand. Therefore, District court Břeclav expressed its lack of jurisdiction. Based on § 11(3) of the OSŘ (2), the District court Břeclav asked the Nejvyšší soud (hereinafter "the Supreme Court") to decide which court had jurisdiction in this case.
The Supreme Court decided that there is no doubt of the Czech courts having jurisdiction, because:
1. the proceedings concern the enforcement of judgment and in such cases, the court of the Member State in which the judgment has been or is to be enforced shall have jurisdiction, regardless of domicile (based on Article 22(5) of the Brussels I Regulation (3)) and
2. the court of the respondent's domicile cannot be identified, as required by § 45(2) of the Exekuční řád.
The Supreme Court held that the District court Břeclav had jurisdiction to hear and decide the case, and that this would be in compliance with principle of economy of proceedings.
(1) Zákon č. 120/2001 Sb. o soudních exekutorech a exekuční činnosti (exekuční řád). (2) Zákon č. 99/1963 Sb. Občanský soudní řád (Code of Civil Procedure). (3) Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.