Ágnes Weil v Géza Gulácsi.
Date: 2019-06-06
26


However, the fact that a national court has, formally speaking, worded its request for a preliminary ruling with reference to certain provisions of Regulation No 1215/2012 does not preclude, as is apparent from the settled case-law, the Court of Justice from providing to the national court all the elements of interpretation which may be of assistance in adjudicating on the case pending before it, whether or not that court has referred to them in its questions (see, to that effect, judgments of 29 September 2016, Essent Belgium, C‑492/14, EU:C:2016:732, paragraph 43, and of 7 June 2018, Inter-Environnement Bruxelles and Others, C‑671/16, EU:C:2018:403, paragraph 29 and the case-law cited).
29


In that regard, it should be recalled that, as is apparent from the case-law of the Court, the rules on recognition and enforcement laid down by Regulation No 44/2001 are based on mutual trust in the administration of justice in the European Union. Such trust requires that judicial decisions delivered in one Member State are not only recognised automatically in another Member State, but also that the procedure for making those decisions enforceable in that Member State is efficient and rapid (judgment of 13 October 2011, Prism Investments, C‑139/10, EU:C:2011:653, paragraph 27).
30


Such a procedure, according to the terms of recital 17 of Regulation No 44/2001, may involve only a purely formal check of the documents required for enforceability in the Member State in which enforcement is sought (judgment of 13 October 2011, Prism Investments, C‑139/10, EU:C:2011:653, paragraph 28).
31


To that end, in accordance with Article 53 of Regulation No 44/2001, a party applying for a declaration of enforceability is required to produce a copy of the judgment which satisfies the conditions necessary to establish its authenticity, as well as the certificate referred to in Article 54 of that regulation, issued by the authorities of the Member State of origin (see, to that effect, judgment of 13 October 2011, Prism Investments, C‑139/10, EU:C:2011:653, paragraph 29).
32


Consequently, the function ascribed to the certificate referred to in Article 54 of Regulation No 44/2001 is to facilitate the issuance of the declaration of enforceability of the judgment given in the Member State of origin, making that issuance almost automatic, as is expressly stated in recital 17 of that regulation (see, to that effect, judgment of 6 September 2012, Trade Agency, C‑619/10, EU:C:2012:531, paragraph 41).
36


In addition, it should also be noted that, by ascertaining whether it is competent to issue the certificate under Article 54 of Regulation No 44/2001, a court is continuing the previous judicial proceedings by guaranteeing the full effectiveness thereof and carries out a procedure judicial in nature, with the result that a national court ruling in the context of such a procedure is entitled to refer questions to the Court for a preliminary ruling (see, by analogy, judgment of 28 February 2019, Gradbeništvo Korana, C‑579/17, EU:C:2019:162, paragraphs 39 and 41).
40


It should also be borne in mind that, inasmuch as Regulation No 44/2001 replaces the Convention of 27 September 1968 on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (OJ 1978 L 304, p. 36), the interpretation provided by the Court in respect of the provisions of that convention is valid also for those of that regulation, whenever the provisions of those Union instruments may be regarded as equivalent (judgment of 16 June 2016, Universal Music International Holding, C‑12/15, EU:C:2016:449, paragraph 22 and the case-law cited).
41


As is apparent from the Court’s case-law on subparagraph (1) of the second paragraph of Article 1 of that convention, the wording of which corresponds to that of Article 1(2)(a) of Regulation No 44/2001 — with the result that, as pointed out in the preceding paragraph of the present judgment, the interpretation provided by the Court in respect of the first of those provisions is valid also for the second — the concept of ‘rights in property arising out of a matrimonial relationship’ encompasses the property relationships resulting directly from the matrimonial relationship or the dissolution thereof (see, to that effect, judgment of 27 March 1979, de Cavel, 143/78, EU:C:1979:83, paragraph 7).
43


In that regard, it must be borne in mind that the exclusion in Article 1(2)(a) of Regulation No 44/2001 is an exception which, as such, must be strictly interpreted. In relying on the objective of Regulation No 44/2001 of maintaining and developing an area of freedom, security and justice by facilitating the free movement of judgments, the Court has held that the exclusions from the scope of that regulation are exceptions which, like all exceptions, must be strictly interpreted (see, to that effect, judgment of 23 October 2014, flyLAL-Lithuanian Airlines, C‑302/13, EU:C:2014:2319, paragraph 27).