Summary
Pursuant to Article 57 of Regulation (EC) No 44/2001, the control of Italian courts for the purpose of declaring enforceable in Italy a notarial authentic instrument drawn up in a EU Member State and certified as enforceable in said Member State must be limited to the fact that the act is not contrary to public policy and to the formal aspects of the act, in accordance with the Regulation’s aim of simplification. The aspects that are external to said instrument and that occurred after it has been declared enforceable in the Member State of issuance must be excluded from said control, whereas they can be challenged during the subsequent enforcement stage. Accordingly, an order of the foreign court providing for the suspension of the enforceability of said instrument upon an escrow deposit, which has been issued after said instrument was declared enforceable, is irrelevant for the Italian court carrying out said control. Such order, in fact, does not even affect the interest of the applicant in obtaining the recognition of said instrument. Pursuant to Article 22(5) of Regulation (EC) No 44/2001, the abovementioned order suspending the enforceability of the foreign instrument does not affect its enforceability in Italy. In fact, the opposite solution would conflict with the fact that said provision grants exclusive jurisdiction to the court of the State where enforcement is sought.