Draka NK Cables Ltd, AB Sandvik international, VO Sembodja BV and Parc Healthcare International Limited v Omnipol Ltd.
Date: 2009-04-23
19. In order to answer that question, it should be borne in mind, first, that, according to settled case-law, the provisions of Regulation No 44/2001 must be interpreted independently, by reference to its scheme and purpose (see, inter alia, Case C‑103/05 Reisch Montage  [2006] ECR I‑6827, paragraph 29, and Case C-372/07 Hassett and Doherty  [2008] ECR I-0000, paragraph 17).
20. Second, in so far as Regulation No 44/2001 now replaces the Brussels Convention in the relations between Member States, the interpretation provided by the Court in respect of the provisions of the Brussels Convention is also valid for those of Regulation No 44/2001 whenever both sets of provisions may be regarded as equivalent. It is also apparent from recital 19 in the preamble to Regulation No 44/2001 that continuity of interpretation should be ensured between the Brussels Convention and Regulation No 44/2001.
25. In that connection, the Court has first of all held that the principle of legal certainty in the Community legal system and the objectives of the Brussels Convention in accordance with Article 220 EC, which is at its origin, require in all Member States a uniform application of the legal concepts and legal classifications developed by the Court in the context of that convention (see Joined Cases 9/77 and 10/77 Bavaria Fluggesellschaft and Germanair  [1977] ECR 1517, paragraph 4, and Case C-432/93 SISRO  [1995] ECR I-2269, paragraph 39).
26. Subsequently, the Court has made clear that the principal objective of the Brussels Convention is to simplify the procedures in the State where enforcement is sought by laying down a very summary, simple and rapid enforcement procedure, whilst at the same time giving the party against whom enforcement is sought an opportunity to bring an appeal (see, to that effect, Case C-414/92 Solo Kleinmotoren  [1994] ECR I-2237, paragraph 20, and Case C-260/97 Unibank  [1999] ECR I‑3715, paragraph 14).
27. That procedure constitutes an autonomous and complete system, independent of the legal systems of the Contracting States, including the matter of appeals (see Deutsche Genossenschaftsbank , paragraphs 16 and 17). The rules relating to it must be interpreted strictly (see SISRO , paragraphs 35 and 39). It follows that Article 36 of the Brussels Convention excludes procedures whereby interested third parties may challenge an enforcement order under domestic law (see Deutsche Genossenschaftsbank , paragraph 17, and Case C‑172/91 Sonntag [1993] ECR I-1963, paragraph 33).
29. Lastly, the Court has pointed out that, since the Brussels Convention merely regulates the procedure for obtaining an order for the enforcement of foreign enforceable instruments and does not deal with execution itself, which continues to be governed by the domestic law of the court in which execution is sought (see Case 145/86 Hoffmann  [1988] ECR 645, paragraph 27), interested third parties may contest execution by means of the procedures available to them under the law of the State in which execution is levied (see Deutsche Genossenschaftsbank , paragraph 18).
31. It follows from all of the foregoing that Article 43(1) of Regulation No 44/2001 must be interpreted as meaning that a creditor of a debtor cannot lodge an appeal against a decision on a request for a declaration of enforceability if he has not formally appeared as a party in the proceedings in which another creditor of that debtor applied for that declaration of enforceability.
Costs