Tribunal Supremo. Sala de lo Civil; 2019-07-03; ROJ ATS 7526/2019
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:ES:TS:2019:7526A
Date: 2019-07-03
Subject matter: Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968;Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Spain

82019ES0703(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
This case regards a question of the admissibility of a cassation appeal brought before the Tribunal Supremo (hereinafter ‘the Supreme Court’).
The Audiencia Provincial de Palma de Mallorca (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) issued an order in an enforcement procedure, which was later appealed by a representative of the company concerned (hereinafter ‘the plaintiff’), who alleged a breach of procedural rules. The appeal was dismissed (still by the Court of First Instance acting in this case also as Court of Appeal).
The plaintiff subsequently filed a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court which was aimed against the order issued in an appellate procedure by the Court of First Instance, by which the ordinary appeal was dismissed.
The Supreme Court held that a cassation appeal may be filed only in special cases strictly enumerated by national law. According to the LEC (1), there are certain judicial decisions which are excluded from the cassation appeal completely, and this enumeration also includes the order as is under this cassation appeal. With regard to these decisions, the only exception to their admissibility for a cassation appeal would be the orders on a matter of law related to proceedings for 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 issued by the Court of First Instance does not fall under this exception, so the order must be upheld. Therefore, the Supreme Court dismissed the cassation appeal as 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.