Enforcement Of EC And EFTA Monetary Judgments In Hungary

In this article, we address the issue of how a foreign monetary judgment delivered in another Member State of the EC and an EFTA Member State, respectively, can be enforced in Hungary.

Enforcement of EC Monetary Judgments

The main legal source governing this issue is Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement in civil and commercial matters (the "Brussels I Regulation"). Based on the Brussels I Regulation and applicable Hungarian laws, a party seeking enforcement of an EC judgment in Hungary is required to submit a so-called petition for enforcement to the competent Hungarian court along with a certified copy of the foreign judgment, a certified Hungarian translation of the foreign judgment, a certificate of enforceability issued by the foreign court delivering the judgment, a certified Hungarian translation of the certificate of enforceability, a document proving that the foreign judgment was duly delivered to the defendant and a power of attorney granted to a delivery agent in Hungary with whom the Hungarian court can communicate.

The actual enforcement proceeding is subject to the national laws of Hungary governing judicial enforcement (Act no LIII of 1994 on Judicial Enforcement). Following due submission of the aforementioned documents, the court will decide on the issuance of a so-called "confirmation of enforceability" that certifies that the foreign decision can be executed under Hungarian law the same way as a decision rendered by a Hungarian court. Following the issuance of the confirmation of enforceability, a "certificate of execution" may be issued based on which document the actual enforcement procedure can be commenced.

It is worth noting that one Member State of the EC, Denmark, opted out of being bound by the Brussels I Regulation. On 19 October 2005, the EC and Denmark concluded an agreement on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (the "Agreement"), pursuant to which Agreement, the Brussels I Regulation as last amended applies to Denmark as well. The Agreement entered into force on 1 July 2007.

One has to emphasize that according to Article 3 of the Agreement, Denmark will not take part in the adoption of amendments to the Brussels I Regulation as last amended and no such amendments will be binding upon or applicable to Denmark. If the EC adopts an amendment to the Brussels I Regulation in the...