Legal tip 1208. Refreshing the clear ideas on European Enforcement Orders EEO
Tuesday, September 23, 2014 @ 12:42 PM
RIGHTS TO DEFENCE
The Spanish Bank trying to enforce a mortgage debt using an EEO for the seizure of UK assets, need of course to follow the procedural rules in Spain first as if not, there will be no debt to be established as Internationally enforceable by the said order.
If a Bank obtained an EEO without serving legal notice of repossession to the debtor and/or without giving to the debtor the legally required possiblities for contest and defence, you, the debtor, in the UK, who would see your UK goods "at risk" will have rights to contest the issuing and the enforcing of the EEO as null and void as well as lack of due procedure after mortagge default.
Rights to defence is one of the most important rights of our Constitution and every State of Law and it has of course been fully covered when the EU created the EEO.
It is important to remark here that opposition rights for Spanish mortgages´debtors have been clrearly strengthened by the ECJ ( European Court of Justice) recently.
THREE KEY IDEAS TO TAKE INTO GOOD ACCOUNT
1) The claim needs to be uncontested
2) The European Regulation stablishes minimum standards with regard to the service of documents (the document instituting proceedings and, where applicable, the summons to a court hearing) to ensure that the rights of the defence are respected. Only the document service methods listed in the Regulation are allowed if the judgment is to be certified as a European enforcement order.
3) The competent court in the enforcing Member State may, subject to certain conditions,refuse to enforce a judgment if it is irreconcilable with an earlier judgment given in any Member State or in a third country. In certain cases, it can also stay or limit enforcement.
Sevilla, South western Spain, at facebook.com