Article 47 - Right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial
Key facts of the case:
Reference for a preliminary ruling — Judicial cooperation in civil matters — Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 — Recognition and enforcement of provisional and protective measures — Concept of ‘public policy’
Outcom of the case:
...the Court (First Chamber) hereby rules:
Article 34(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, considered in the light of Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, must be interpreted as meaning that, in circumstances such as those at issue in the main proceedings, the recognition and enforcement of an order issued by a court of a Member State, without a prior hearing of a third person whose rights may be affected by that order, cannot be regarded as manifestly contrary to public policy in the Member State in which enforcement is sought or manifestly contrary to the right to a fair trial within the meaning of those provisions, in so far as that third person is entitled to assert his rights before that court.
3) Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’), entitled ‘Right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial’, is worded as follows:
‘Everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this Article.
Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal previously established by law. Everyone shall have the possibility of being advised, defended and represented.
…’
4 Title VII of the Charter, entitled ‘General provisions governing the interpretation and application of the Charter’, states at Article 51(1):
‘The provisions of this Charter are addressed to the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union with due regard for the principle of subsidiarity and to the Member States only when they are implementing Union law. They shall therefore respect the rights, observe the principles and promote the application thereof in accordance with their respective powers and respecting the limits of the powers of the Union as conferred on it in the Treaties.’
...
34) In those circumstances, the Augstākās tiesas Civillietu departaments (Supreme Court, Civil Division) decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following questions to the Court for a preliminary ruling:
‘(1) Must Article 34(1) of Regulation No 44/2001 be interpreted as meaning that, in the context of proceedings for the recognition of a foreign judgment, infringement of the rights of persons who are not parties to the main proceedings may constitute grounds for applying the public policy clause contained in Article 34(1) of Regulation No 44/2001 and for refusing to recognise the foreign judgment in so far as it affects persons who are not parties to the main proceedings?
(2) If the first question is answered in the affirmative, must Article 47 of the Charter be interpreted as meaning that the principle of the right to a fair trial set out therein allows proceedings for the adoption of provisional protective measures to limit the economic rights of a person who has not been a party to the proceedings, if provision is made to the effect that any person who is affected by the decision on the provisional protective measures is to have the right at any time to request the court to vary or discharge the judgment, in a situation in which it is left to the applicants to notify the decision to the persons concerned?’
35) By its questions, which it is appropriate to examine together, the referring court asks, in essence, whether Article 34(1) of Regulation No 44/2001, considered in the light of Article 47 of the Charter, must be interpreted as meaning that, in circumstances such as those at issue in the main proceedings, the recognition and enforcement of an order issued by a court of a Member State without a prior hearing of a third person whose rights may be affected by that order must be regarded as manifestly contrary to public policy in the Member State in which enforcement is sought and manifestly contrary to the right to a fair trial within the meaning of those provisions.
43) The referring court being uncertain as to the effect of Article 47 of the Charter on the interpretation of Article 34(1) of Regulation No 44/2001 as regards the application for recognition and enforcement of the contested order, it should be recalled that the Charter’s field of application so far as concerns action of the Member States is defined in Article 51(1) thereof, according to which the provisions of the Charter are addressed to the Member States only when they are implementing EU law (see judgment of 26 February 2013 in Åkerberg Fransson, C‑617/10, EU:C:2013:105, paragraph 17).
44) A national court implementing EU law in applying Regulation No 44/2001 must therefore comply with the requirements flowing from Article 47 of the Charter which provides that everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by EU law are violated has the right to effective judicial protection.
45) Furthermore, the Court has stressed that the provisions of EU law, such as those of Regulation No 44/2001, must be interpreted in the light of fundamental rights which, according to settled case-law, form an integral part of the general principles of law whose observance the Court ensures and which are now set out in the Charter. In that respect, all the provisions of Regulation No 44/2001 express the intention of ensuring that, within the scope of the objectives of that regulation, proceedings leading to the delivery of judicial decisions are conducted in such a way that the rights of the defence laid down in Article 47 of the Charter are observed (see judgment of 11 September 2014 in A, C‑112/13, EU:C:2014:2195, paragraph 51 and the case-law cited).
50) That system of judicial protection reflects the requirements laid down by the Court in its judgment of 2 April 2009 in Gambazzi (C‑394/07, EU:C:2009:219, paragraphs 42 and 44), with regard to procedural guarantees giving any third persons concerned a genuine opportunity of challenging a measure adopted by a court of the State of origin. It follows that that system cannot be regarded as a breach of Article 47 of the Charter.
54) In the light of all the foregoing considerations, the answer to the question referred is that Article 34(1) of Regulation No 44/2001, considered in the light of Article 47 of the Charter, must be interpreted as meaning that, in circumstances such as those at issue in the main proceedings, the recognition and enforcement of an order issued by a court of a Member State, without a prior hearing of a third person whose rights may be affected by that order, cannot be regarded as manifestly contrary to public policy in the Member State in which enforcement is sought or manifestly contrary to the right to a fair trial within the meaning of those provisions, in so far as that third person is entitled to assert his rights before that court.
55) Since these proceedings are, for the parties to the main proceedings, a step in the action pending before the national court, the decision on costs is a matter for that court. Costs incurred in submitting observations to the Court, other than the costs of those parties, are not recoverable.
On those grounds, the Court (First Chamber) hereby rules: