Proceedings brought by Società Immobiliare Al Bosco Srl.
Date: 2018-10-04
17


The referring court considers that, first and from a technical perspective, the time limit for enforcement is likely to come within the remit of the national law of the court seised and is not governed by Regulation No 44/2001, as is apparent from the case-law of the Court (judgments of 3 October 1985, Capelloni and Aquilini, 119/84, EU:C:1985:388, paragraph 16; of 29 April 1999, Coursier, C‑267/97, EU:C:1999:213, paragraph 28; and of 28 April 2009, Apostolides, C‑420/07, EU:C:2009:271, paragraph 69). Secondly, that time limit leads to the instrument ceasing to be enforceable as a result of the passage of time. The effect of that time limit would ultimately be no different to the instrument being set aside in the appeal proceedings. Accordingly, the application of that time limit with respect to a preventive attachment order issued in another Member State could be incompatible with the case-law of the Court of Justice, according to which the application of the procedural rules of the Member State in which enforcement is sought must not undermine the effectiveness of Regulation No 44/2001 by frustrating the principles laid down by the regulation itself (judgments of 3 October 1985, Capelloni and Aquilini, 119/84, EU:C:1985:388, paragraph 21, and of 28 April 2009, Apostolides, C‑420/07, EU:C:2009:271, paragraph 69).
24


As is clear from Article 41 of Regulation No 44/2001, for the purposes of issuing the declaration as to the enforceability of a decision given in a Member State other than the Member State in which enforcement is sought, the authorities of the Member State in which enforcement is sought must confine themselves to a purely formal check of the documents required in accordance with Article 53 of that regulation (see, to that effect, judgment of 13 October 2011, Prism Investments, C‑139/10, EU:C:2011:653, paragraphs 28 to 30).
25


The limited nature of that review is justified by the purpose of that procedure, which is not to initiate new proceedings, but rather to agree, on the basis of mutual trust in the administration of justice in the Member States, to the judgment delivered by a court or tribunal of a Member State other than the Member State in which enforcement is sought being enforced by means of incorporation into the latter Member State’s legal order. That procedure thereby enables a judgment delivered in a Member State other than the Member State in which enforcement is sought to have the effect in the latter Member State of a national enforceable judicial decision (judgment of 13 October 2011, Prism Investments, C‑139/10, EU:C:2011:653, paragraph 31).
26


It must also be recalled that Regulation No 44/2001 merely regulates the procedure for obtaining an order for the enforcement of enforceable instruments issued by a court of a Member State other than the Member State in which enforcement is sought, and does not deal with enforcement in the strict sense, which continues to be governed by the domestic law of the court in which enforcement is sought, unless, for the purposes of the enforcement of a judgment, the application of the procedural rules of the Member State in which enforcement is sought may impair the effectiveness of the scheme laid down by the regulation as regards enforcement orders, by frustrating the principles laid down in that regard, whether expressly or by implication, by the regulation itself (judgment of 28 April 2009, Apostolides, C‑420/07, EU:C:2009:271, paragraph 69).
28


In that connection, it should be recalled that the purpose of the enforceability procedure is to recognise the effects of a decision from another Member State in the Member State in which enforcement is sought. That recognition concerns the specific characteristics of that decision, without reference to the matters of fact and law relating to enforcement of the obligations arising from it (judgment of 13 October 2011, Prism Investments, C‑139/10, EU:C:2011:653, paragraph 39).
35


In that regard, it is settled case-law that, once that judgment is incorporated into the legal order of the Member State in which enforcement is sought, national legislation of that Member State relating to enforcement applies in the same way as to judgments delivered by national courts (judgment of 13 October 2011, Prism Investments, C‑139/10, EU:C:2011:653, paragraph 40 and the case-law cited).
40


Although recognition must have the effect, in principle, of conferring on judgments the authority and effectiveness accorded to them in the Member State in which they were delivered, there is, however, no reason for granting to a decision, when it is enforced, effects that a similar decision given directly in the Member State in which enforcement is sought would not have (see, to that effect, judgment of 13 October 2011, Prism Investments, C‑139/10, EU:C:2011:653, paragraph 38 and the case-law cited).
45


As regards the objectives of Regulation No 44/2001, it is clear from recitals 2, 6, 16 and 17 thereof that it seeks to ensure the free movement of judgments from Member States in civil and commercial matters by simplifying the formalities with a view to their rapid and simple recognition and enforcement (judgment of 7 July 2016, Lebek, C‑70/15, EU:C:2016:524, paragraph 33).