Summary
The court of first instance declared the Belgian judgment enforceable. The applicant’s claim arose out of an agreement concluded by the parties during the marriage. Under this agreement the husband of the applicant declared that he would pay off all the debts of his spouse. The proceedings before the court of second instance focused on the application of Art. 34 point 2 of the Brussels I Regulation. The Polish Supreme Court pointed out that, according to Art. 1 par. 2(1) of the Brussels I Regulation, the Polish courts had no jurisdiction in this case. Under this Article, the Brussels I Regulation shall not apply, among others, to the rights in property arising out of a matrimonial relationship. The Polish Supreme Court emphasised that the EU legislator does not define the term ‘rights in property arising out of a matrimonial relationship’. He stated that, having regard to the jurisprudence of the CJEU, this term shall be interpreted autonomously. According to CJEU case law, this term is given a wide interpretation and it covers not only property arrangements specifically and exclusively envisaged by certain national legal systems in the case of marriage but also any property relationships resulting from the matrimonial relationship or the dissolution thereof.