For a person to enforce a right, an enforceable title has to be obtained, which can subsequently be enforced.
This matter is regulated by a number of bilateral and multilateral treaties as well as national provisions. At European level, certain exceptions apply for certain Member States.
1. Obtaining an enforceable title
The main treaties relating to the international jurisdiction of courts in international matters are as follows:
- At European level (EU): Regulation (EU) No. 1215/2012 of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters
- With Switzerland, Norway and Iceland: The so-called “Lugano” Convention (bis) on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.
Various European procedures can be used for cross-border civil cases:
- the European order for payment,
- the European Small Claims Procedure, and ;
- the European Enforcement Order)
There is also a European cross-border insolvency procedure for insolvency cases involving companies or entrepreneurs with activities, assets or businesses in several Member States,
2. Enforcement of enforceable titles
European judgments circulate freely: intermediate measures in the circulation of judgments have been abolished: they are automatically recognised, without any need, in advance, for an exequatur procedure. Judgments from outside the EU must, as a general rule, still be subject to an “exequatur” process to obtain legal effects in the order of a Member State.
Substantive enforcement law remains subject to national laws, with European instruments referring to it mainly in relation to all enforcement operations. This includes for enforcement decisions obtained as a result of the use of European procedures to obtain a title to be executed. The court decision must always be enforced in accordance with the national rules and procedures of the executing State (usually the one where the debtor has his domicile or property).
However, since 18 January 2017, there has been a European Bank Accounts Enforcement Procedure (ECA) for international recovery applicable to all Member States except Denmark and the United Kingdom.
The foregoing principles are general and must be qualified alongside the jurisdictional titles referred to therein. There are other titles that also release certain effects. Moreover, for both of them, they may also have certain other effects, particularly in terms of probative value.
