Your Local Community Magazine
Page 8
Enforcing Judgments within the European Union
by Ana Gay
If you have had to go to court in Spain or the UK and have won your case, it might seem that the process of enforcing your judgment is more daunting than the court case itself.
However, this is one area in which the European Union has streamlined matters by creating uniform procedures which apply throughout the European Union.
This has become especially important as people have moved around Europe, either in search of work or returning to their home countries during the recession of the last few years.
The enforcement system uses common certificates to be completed in the language of the country in
which you want to enforce your judgment.
So, to enforce a Spanish Judgment in England the Spanish Court will complete the form in English, and stamp it with the seal of the Court.
In England, the completed and stamped certificate is then sent for the judgment to be registered as if it were a judgment from an English Court. The judgment will then be allocated an English case reference number, and after that it can be enforced in the same way as an English judgment.
One big concern is tracing a judgment debtor. In countries where there is a system of national identity numbers this is relatively straightforward, and requires little more than a search of a single computer index.
Although in the U.K. there is no system of national identity numbers as there is in Spain, France, and other European Countries, there is a well-established network of Enquiry Agents who have access to various different databases. For a moderate fee they are usually able to locate judgment debtors and identify their assets swiftly so that you can choose the most appropriate method of enforcement.
When the judgment debtor is informed that steps are being taken to enforce the judgement, a common response is to try to contest enforcement. However the Courts of the country in which you intend to enforce the judgment will not look into it; if the certificate has been correctly issued they must assume it is valid. If the judgment debtor wants to contest the validity of the judgment, they must do so in the Courts of the country where the judgment was first obtained.
For more information concerning enforcement of judgments between European Union countries please contact Ana Gay at Linkpoint Legal S.L. in Spain on 966 265 000
anagay@linkpointlegal.com or in England Michael Olmer at Clapham & Collinge Solicitors on 01603 693592
mo@clapham-collinge.co.uk.
Female Focus
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