International debt collection

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Collection of debts owed by Luxembourg nationals to foreign debtors from Luxembourg.

Cases where customers of Luxembourg-based companies have their headquarters abroad.Nature of the service invoiced. Provision of services, delivery of goods

The applicable text for determining jurisdiction is EC Regulation No. 44/2001.

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Jurisdiction - General principle

Jurisdiction lies with the Member State in which the defendant, a natural person, is domiciled. For companies, domicile is equivalent to the registered office.

In the case of a company branch, jurisdiction is that of its place of establishment.

Special jurisdiction :

Tort (e.g. accident). Jurisdiction lies with the place where the harmful event occurred.
For maintenance obligations, it is the place where the maintenance creditor resides.
In insurance matters (domicile of the insurer / domicile of the policyholder-claimant).
For real estate, it is also the place where the harmful event occurred.

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Special collection powers

These make it possible to derogate from the jurisdiction of the law of the defendant's domicile.

General principle :

« Place of performance of the obligation on which the claim for payment is based, especially : Sale (place where the goods were delivered).

Applicable text

EU Regulation N1215/2012
Article 5
Persons domiciled in a Member State may be sued in the courts of another Member State only in accordance with the rules set out in sections 2 to 7 of this chapter.
Article 7
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Where the parties, irrespective of their domicile, have agreed that a court or the courts of a Member State are to have jurisdiction to settle any disputes which have arisen or which may arise in connection with a particular legal relationship, such courts shall have jurisdiction unless the validity of the agreement conferring jurisdiction is null and void according to the law of that Member State. This jurisdiction is exclusive, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.
Non-application of section 4 of the regulation:
Contract not concluded by the customer as a consumer
Article 25
In order to be valid, a clause conferring jurisdiction must be concluded either in writing, or orally with written confirmation, or in a form which conforms to the habits which the parties have established between themselves, or in international trade, in a form which conforms to the usages of which the parties were aware or ought to have been aware and which is widely known and regularly observed in this type of trade by the parties to contracts of the same type in the branch of trade concerned.

1) ) First of all, it is necessary to serve the Luxembourg judgment on the debtor and wait until the time limit for appeal has elapsed before proceeding with enforcement.

The same rules apply as in domestic proceedings, with the exception of longer time limits depending on the debtor's state of residence:

In the case of service on a debtor domiciled within the EU, the time limit for appeal is extended by 15 days.

Please note :

Time limits run from the date service is effected abroad, not from the date the registered letter is sent by post to Luxembourg.

How is recognition of the judgment abroad ensured?

Principle :

Judgments given in an EU member state are recognized in other member states without the need for any procedure (art.36).

Therefore, no recognition or exequatur procedure is required.

Please note :

The regulation applies only to legal proceedings instituted, to authentic instruments formally drawn up or registered and to court settlements approved or concluded on or after January 10, 2015 (article 66).

Practical formalities: documents to be provided for recognition and/or enforcement. :

The certificate issued by the registry of the court of origin (art 53). This document certifies that the deed or decision is enforceable in the State of origin.
An authenticated copy of the decision
At the request of the authority of the State addressed,a translation of the decision.

A debtor domiciled in another state may request a translation in order to contest the decision.

2) To what extent can recognition of the Luxembourg judgment be refused?

In the case of a default judgment, failure to serve the judgment in sufficient time for the debtor to defend himself (incompatible with obtaining an EU certificate).
Manifest disturbance of public order in the requested state.
Contradiction of judgment.
Disregard of special jurisdiction rules. (Without calling into question the facts on which the decision on jurisdiction is based)

In no case is the case retried on its merits. Cases of non-execution are very strictly limited and rarely applied. They correspond to malfunctions or anomalies.

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3) How to enforce a judicial decision?

Example : Enforcing a judgment of the Luxembourg Court of Justice

Obtain the original judgment.
Transmit the judgment to the bailiff and serve it on the convicted party.
In the event of a different language, translation of the decision.
The decision is then served on the defendant in accordance with the domestic procedure of the requested state.
A certificate attesting to delivery of the writ to the plaintiff in the State of residence is then attached to the file. This is the certificate of completion of service formalities.

4) Appeal deadlines

Time limits are always increased,
as for writs of summons (article 167 of the NPC) by:

15 days for defendants residing in the European territory of a member state of the European Union or the European Free Trade Association; also for Andorra, Gibraltar, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican, Channel Islands, Faroe Islands.
25 days other European countries (excluding Turkey and Russia)
35 days for other countries.

Please note that time limits run from the date of service by the competent authorities in the debtor's place of residence, and not from the date of mailing by the bailiff.

Once the time limits for appeal have elapsed, the complete proceedings must be filed with the court clerk's office that issued the decision, together with a certificate signed by the lawyer appointed to certify that the decision has not been appealed (certificat de non appel ou certificat de non cassation).

The clerk's office of the court that handed down the decision issues the certificate based on article 53 of EU regulation no. 1215/1212, making the decision enforceable.