Cross-border Debt Recovery Blog
by Marco Sposini
Laywer, Milan Bar Association
Worldwide debt recovery news
The Court of Justice on Articles 62(1), 4(1) and 5(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 and Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 1784/2020
17 May 2024
The Court of Justice of the European Union, by judgment ECLI:EU:C:2024:405, dated 16 May 2024, in Case C‑222/23 – in proceedings seeking the issue of an order for payment, brought by ‘Toplofikatsia Sofia’ EAD, a thermal energy supplier, against V.Z.A., a debtor customer, for a sum of money corresponding to the value of the heating supplied for that customer’s apartment in Sofia (Bulgaria) – ruled that:
1) Article 62(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters must be interpreted as meaning that it precludes national legislation under which nationals of a Member State who reside in another Member State are deemed to be domiciled at an address which remains at all times registered in the first Member State.
2) Article 4(1) and Article 5(1) of Regulation No 1215/2012 must be interpreted as precluding national legislation, as interpreted in national caselaw, from conferring on a court of a Member State jurisdiction to issue an order for payment against a debtor in respect of whom there are reasonable grounds to believe that he or she was domiciled, on the date on which the application for an order for payment was made, in the territory of another Member State, in situations other than those provided for in Sections 2 to 7 of Chapter II of that regulation.
3) Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 2020/1784 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (service of documents) must be interpreted as not precluding a court of a Member State, which has jurisdiction to issue an order for payment against a debtor where there are reasonable grounds to believe that he or she is domiciled in the territory of another Member State, from seeking assistance from the competent authorities of that other Member State and using the means it makes available to identify the debtor’s address for service of that order for payment.
The text is available here