Summary
Under Article 34(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No 44/2001, a Spanish judgment may be recognized in Italy when the defendant – who did not appear before the court of the State of origin and claims that, together with the notification of the judgment, he was not notified with the Italian translation of document which instituted the Spanish proceeding – has failed to submit evidence on the manner and time of reception, occurred at a later time, of the document in Italian although the opposite appears to be true on the grounds of the request for service of documents performed pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1348/2000.
Under Article 19(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1348/2000, the defendant who did not enter an appearance in the proceedings before a foreign court may file an application for relief beyond the five-day term provided by the lex fori, but only within a reasonable time after he has knowledge of the judgment which shall in no case be less than one year following the date of the judgment.
Under Article 34(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No 44/2001, the lack of sufficient time to arrange a defence before the court in a different State and to challenge the subsequent decision may not be invoked before the Court of Cassation as a ground for refusing recognition of a decree that declares a Spanish judgment enforceable. In fact such assessment must be performed on a case-by-case basis with reference to the facts of the specific case and may be appealed only on the grounds of inadequate reasoning in the ruling of the lower court.