Enforcement of judgments in cross-border cases

The issue of enforcing cross-border financial debts is sensitive and its handling requires specialized knowledge and immediate targeted action by the lawyer, in order to avoid delays that can prove detrimental to the client. Our Office has extensive experience and a proven track record in handling debt collection cases both abroad, on behalf of Greek companies, and in Greece, on behalf of foreign companies (European or International).

To force a debtor who lives abroad, to comply with the judgment that the Greek Courts issued against him/her, according to which he/she is obligated to pay in full, the creditor will have to address the enforcement authorities of the country where the debtor’s assets are located.

Under the Brussels I Regulation –as it has been reformulated– governing the recognition and enforcement of judgments in cross border cases, an enforceable judgment issued in a Union Member State, may be enforced by the authorities in an other Member State without any intermediary procedure being required (note: the Regulation repeals the exequatur procedure). The debtor, against whom the enforcement is sought, is entitle to oppose the enforcement procedure by means of further legal remedies filed before the courts of the State where the enforcement takes place.

In cross border civil and commercial cases we can have recourse to different European procedures, such as the European Payment Order, the European Small Claims Procedure or the European Enforcement Order, where all necessary conditions are met. The conditions are accordingly provided by law and their occurance is examined by the Court that issued the judgment.

Indicatively, the European enforceable title may be provided for a judgment on uncontested claims (in line with the meaning of the Regulation), when the judgment is enforceable in the Member State of origin and  does not conflict with the rules on jurisdiction as laid down by Regulation (EC) No 44/2001.

In any case, a judgment must be enforced in accordance with the national rules and procedures of the State of enforcement (usually where the debtor resides or his/her assets are located).

In practice, an enforceable title is the prerequisite for the enforcement procedure (a court judgment or another deed). The enforcement procedures and the authorities who handle them (courts, debt-collection agencies and bailiffs) are decided by the national law of the Member State where enforcement is sought. For this purpose, our Office has a wide network of partners in Greece, Italy, France and Switzerland, and in most European countries.