Enforcement of judgments in civil cases and commercial cases in the European Union

It is not unusual when a judgment rendered in one EU Member State must be enforced in another EU Member State. Thanks to legislation effective in the territory of the European Union, this process has become more clear and straightforward significantly facilitating enforcement of a judgment and reducing collector’s expenses. Enforcement of a judgment has been mainly governed by following two Regulations:

– Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (recast) (Brussels Ibis Regulation), replacing Regulation (EC) No. 44/2001 of the European Council of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters,

– Regulation (EC) No 805/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 creating a European Enforcement Order for uncontested claims (European Enforcement Order Regulation).

Brussels Ibis Regulation

In accordance with Brussels Ibis Regulation, a judgment given in a Member State which is enforceable in that Member State shall be enforceable in the other Member States without any declaration of enforceability being required. The court which rendered a judgment shall, at the request of any interested party (plaintiff), issue the certificate, which is standard in all Member States.

Therefore, to enforce a judgment given in some Member State in the other Member State of the European Union, the plaintiff must submit the following to the competent enforcement authority (in Latvia – to the bailiff):

• the copy of a judgment;
• the certificate issued pursuant to Article 53 of Brussels Ibis Regulation;
• translations of the foregoing documents into the language of the state, where the judgment shall be enforced.

Brussels Ibis Regulation is applied in all Member States of the European Union, including Denmark. It is applicable for enforcement of a judgment in civil and commercial disputes, except for those related to legal status or legal capacity and capacity to act of natural persons, title to property arising from marital relations, bankruptcy, procedures related to liquidation of insolvent companies or other legal entities, social security, court of arbitration, maintenance obligations arising from family, parental and children’s, marital or kinship relations, last wills and inheritance.

European Enforcement Order Regulation

Unlike Brussels Ibis Regulation, the European Enforcement Order Regulation has narrower scope of application. In particular, this Regulation refers only to uncontested claims regarding payment of money in a civil matter or a commercial matter, therefore, following two prerequisites must be met:

• a claim must be filed concerning particular amount of money, performance of which has begun already or is indicated in a judgment;
• a claim must be uncontested (a debtor explicitly agreed thereto, the debtor during proceedings has never contested thereof, the debtor failed to appear or was represented, when adjudicating the claim in the court, although initially the claim was challenged within judicial proceedings, if such action caused admission by default of facts stated in the claim or stated by the creditor in accordance with regulatory enactments of the Member State of origin).

Upon receipt of the respective request of the plaintiff in the court of the Member State of origin, the court shall verify if prerequisites set forth in the Regulation are met, inter alia, there has been verified manner of delivery of documents on initiation of proceedings to the debtor; if the debtor was duly informed on the claim, as well as appeal against the claim. If prerequisites are met, the court, by using the respective blank form, shall issue a confirmation of the European enforcement order with respect to the judgment.

Similar as in accordance with Brussels Ibis Regulation – a judgment approved in the Member State of origin by the European enforcement order does not require declaration of enforceability, and the claimant must submit to the competent enforcement authority the following:

• the copy of a judgment;
• the copy of approval of the European enforcement order;
• translations of the foregoing documents into the language of the state, where the judgment shall be enforced.

Regulation shall be effective in all Member States of the European Union, except for Denmark.

Latvia

Although the procedure is more clear and straightforward, many clients prefer to seek law firms’ assistance with matters related to the enforcement. NJORD has been successfully assisting clients both with obtaining enforcement documents from Latvian courts and with enforcement of judgements of other member states in Latvia.

More information

For more information contact partner, attorney at law Sergei Petrov (sp@njordlaw.lv ).

NJORD Law Firm is a Nordic and Baltic law firm with offices in Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. We have more than 200 employees, of which about half are lawyers. Our Dispute Resolution department is renowned for successfully assisting well-known local clients, along with top international companies – with Nordic and Russian clients especially known to place the team as their first choice. We offer a full litigation service covering civil, administrative and criminal law (white collar crimes). We are frequently recommended and hired exclusively as litigation specialists.