Keywords

Summary



Keywords

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1. Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments ° Scope ° Civil and commercial matters ° Concept of "civil matters" ° Claim brought before a criminal court for compensation for loss caused to an individual by a person committing a criminal offence ° Claim brought against a state-school teacher who has failed to fulfil his duty of supervision vis-à-vis his pupils ° Included

(Convention of 27 September 1968, Art. 1, first para.)

2. Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments ° Enforcement ° Remedies ° Appeal in cassation and "Rechtsbeschwerde" ° Remedy available to interested third parties under domestic law ° Excluded

(Convention of 27 September 1968, Art. 37, second para.)

3. Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments ° Recognition and enforcement ° Grounds for refusal ° Document which instituted the proceedings not served in due form and in sufficient time on defendant in default ° Concept of "default" ° Defendant to a civil claim made in the context of criminal proceedings ° Appearance to the civil claim precluding default

(Convention of 27 September 1968, Art. 27(2))

Summary

1. A claim for compensation for loss to an individual resulting from a criminal offence, even though made in the context of criminal proceedings, is civil in nature unless the person against whom it is made is to be regarded as a public authority which acted in the exercise of its powers. That is not the case where the activity called in question is the supervision by a state-school teacher of his pupils during a school trip. It follows that "civil matters" within the meaning of the first sentence of the first paragraph of Article 1 of the Convention of 27 September 1968 on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters covers a claim for damages brought before a criminal court against a state-school teacher who, during a school trip, occasioned loss to a pupil as a result of a culpable and unlawful breach of his duties of supervision, even where there is coverage by a scheme of social insurance under public law.

2. The second paragraph of Article 37 of the Convention must be interpreted as precluding any appeal by interested third parties against the judgment given on an appeal against authorization to enforce a judgment given in another Contracting State, even where the domestic law of the State in which enforcement is sought confers on such third parties a right of appeal.

3. Since non-recognition of a judgment given in another Contracting State for the reasons set out in Article 27(2) of the Convention is possible only where the defendant was in default of appearance in the original proceedings, that provision may not be relied upon where the defendant appeared. A defendant is deemed to have appeared for the purposes of Article 27(2) of the Convention where, in connection with a claim for damages made in the context of the criminal proceedings pending before the criminal court, the defendant, through defence counsel of his own choice, answered the criminal charges at the trial but did not express a view on the civil claim, on which oral argument was also submitted in the presence of his counsel.