EUPillar OLG Koblenz, 27.8.2012

Summary

The subject of the dispute was a Polish decision on maintenance claims that was to be declared enforceable in Germany. The court had to assess the temporal applicability of the Maintenance Regulation and to decide the question of material objections against the title. The court first held that the Maintenance Regulation pursuant to its Art 75 (2) (a) applied to the case as the Polish decision was made before the Regulation came into force but the application for enforcement was submitted after that point of time. Further, the court held that the CJEU decided in Prism Investments that Art 45 Brussels I (that was decisive for maintenance claims at that point of time) only allowed an examination according to the provisions in Art 33, 34 of that Regulation. The corresponding rules in Art. 34, 24 Maintenance Regulation were to be considered in the light of this decision. The court however stated that material objections which had been legally binding determined, could be considered within the examination. It justified this understanding by stating that the CJEU in Prism Investments primarily intended to clarify that the formal procedure of the declaration of enforceability was not suitable for an examination of the original decision. The court further deduced that obviously justified objections were to be taken into consideration.