Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2013:295
Date: 2013-05-08
Language of the case: French
Subject matter: Area of freedom, security and justice;Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Belgium

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 19 September 2013 1. Judicial cooperation in civil matters — Insolvency proceedings — Regulation No 1346/2000 — Honouring an obligation for the benefit of the debtor — Provision of substantive law (Council Regulation No 1346/2000, Art. 24) 2. European Union law — Interpretation — Methods — Literal, systematic and teleological interpretation 3. Judicial cooperation in civil matters — Insolvency proceedings — Regulation No 1346/2000 — Honouring an obligation for the benefit of the debtor — Scope — Payment made on the order of a debtor to one of its creditors — Not included (Council Regulation No 1346, Art. 24(1)) 1. See the text of the decision. (see para. 23) 2. See the text of the decision. (see paras 26, 27) 3. Article 24(1) of Regulation No 1346/2000 on insolvency proceedings must be interpreted as meaning that a payment made at the behest of a debtor subject insolvency proceedings to one of its creditors does not fall within the scope of that provision. The persons protected by that provision are the debtors of the insolvency debtor who, whether it be directly or indirectly, honour an obligation for the benefit of the latter in good faith. Thus, a bank which made a payment, at the behest of and on behalf of the insolvent debtor, even if it fulfilled an obligation contracted with regard to the instalment debtor, has not fulfilled that obligation ‘for the benefit of’ the latter within the meaning of Article 24 of Regulation No 1346/2000 since the debtor was not the recipient of that payment. (see paras 31, 32, 38, operative part)