Recast of the Brussels I Regulation

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 was published on the 20th of December 2012 in Official Journal of EU (L 351/21). This regulation is a recast and at the same time repeal of Regulation (EC) Nr. 44/2001 (so called regulation Brussels I). The new Regulation Nr. 1215/2012 shall

enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union – i.e. on the 10th of January 2013, and it shall apply from 10 January 2015.

The main purpose of the recast Regulation is make the circulation of judgments in civil and commercial matters easier and faster within the Union.

The new Regulation broadens the application of the so called universal jurisdiction. The rules envisaged in the Regulation shall apply in all cases of claims pending before courts of member states, including in relation to defendants domiciled outside the EU, in consumer and employment disputes,  as well as in situations of exclusive jurisdiction and jurisdiction agreement.

The second substantial amendment concerns the rules on lis pendens. Special provisions regulate the situations where the parties have agreed on a competent court and despite of this agreement one of them seizes another court, as well as when the case is pending before the court of a third state.

The most important change is the abolishment of the exequatur: 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 person against whom enforcement is sought should be able to apply for refusal of the recognition or enforcement of a judgment if he considers one of the grounds for refusal of recognition to be present in order to protect his right of defense.