Judicial cooperation in civil matters

This article concerns aspects of the European Union's political system that may have changed as a result of the Lisbon Treaty on December 1, 2009. Please remove this notice only after you have checked that the article is up to date.

European Union flag

The three pillars of the European Union

The judicial cooperation in civil matters ( JZZ , English Judicial Cooperation in Civil Matters , French Coopération judiciaire en matière civile ) is a policy of the European Community . Together with the provisions on police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters and the accompanying measures on the free movement of persons , it serves the overarching concept of an “area of ​​freedom, security and justice”.

history

Judicial policy has traditionally been viewed as the core of state sovereignty . This is why there have always been considerable reservations on the part of the member states against European integration in this area. For this reason, for a long time there was no provision for any kind of cooperation between Member States in this area.

However, as the development of the internal market and free movement of people progressed, the risks and dangers involved became apparent. The opening of the internal borders also led to an increase in legal contacts between nationals of different Member States who were therefore subject to different national legal systems.

In response to this, too, the EU has established the concept of an area of ​​freedom, security and justice , of which the JZZ is part. In 1992, with the Maastricht Treaty, corresponding provisions were included in the intergovernmental third pillar of the EU . While the police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters remained there, the JZZ was transferred to the supranational first pillar (“ communitized ”) together with the Free Movement of Persons in 1997 by the Treaty of Amsterdam .

Due to Protocols No. 3 to 5 to the EU Treaty, the member states Great Britain , Ireland and Denmark only participate to a very limited extent in cooperation in the field of JZZ.

Timetable

Sign in force contract

1948 1948 Brussels Pact

1951 1952 Paris

1954 1955 Paris Treaties

1957 1958 Rome

1965 1967 merger agreement

1986 1987 Single European Act

1992 1993 Maastricht

1997 1999 Amsterdam

2001 2003 Nice

2007 2009 Lisbon

European Communities

Three pillars of the European Union

European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM)

→

←

European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)

Contract expired in 2002

European Union (EU)

European Economic Community (EEC)

European Community (EC)

→

Justice and Home Affairs (JI)

Police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters (PJZS)

←

European Political Cooperation (EPC)

→

Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)

←

Western Union (WU)

Western European Union (WEU)

dissolved on July 1, 2011

aims

According to Art. 81 TFEU, the aim of the JZZ is to facilitate the handling of civil proceedings with cross-border implications, insofar as this is necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of the internal market .

This is to be achieved by improving and simplifying cross-border delivery , cooperation in the gathering of evidence and the recognition and enforcement of judicial and extrajudicial decisions in civil matters. In addition, the conflict of law rules of private international law of the member states serving to delimit competences between the legal systems are to be harmonized. A smooth handling of civil proceedings should also be sought, if necessary also by harmonizing civil procedural norms.

Actors and measures

Since the takeover of the JZZ in the supranational first pillar of the EU, legislation in this area has been carried out in the institutional framework and in accordance with the provisions of the EC Treaty. According to Art. 61 lit.c, the Council (usually in the formation of the Council for Justice and Home Affairs ) issues “measures” in this regard; He is therefore not restricted to a specific form of action, but can freely choose between the legal acts mentioned in Art. 249 of the EC Treaty, in particular the Regulation and the Directive . According to Art. 67 (5), it generally decides in JZZ matters in accordance with the co-decision procedure under Art. 251 of the EC Treaty. As a result, the Commission has a right of initiative and the European Parliament is involved in the strongest possible form in the Treaty. In matters related to family law, however, resolutions are passed unanimously and thus without the involvement of Parliament.

Measures in the field of JZZ are in principle fully subject to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice . For the preliminary ruling procedure under Art. 234 EC Treaty, however, there is the special feature that under Art. 68 Para. 1 EC Treaty only national courts whose decisions can no longer be contested are entitled to refer. According to Article 68 (3) of the EC Treaty, the Council, the Commission and the member states can also obtain expert opinions from the ECJ on the interpretation of legal acts of the JZZ.

Successes of the JZZ

The cross-border service has been in the regulation regulated VO 1348/00, provides for the appropriate national transmitting agencies. Regulation 1206/01 deals with the cooperation between the courts of different member states in collecting evidence.

In the area of ​​facilitating compulsory enforcement, the Brussels enforcement agreements of 1968 (general) and 1998 (matrimonial matters), which were already concluded intergovernmentally before the JZZ came into force, have been incorporated into the EC Regulations VO 44/01 and VO 1347/00; 2201/03 transferred. The abolition of the exequatur procedure is planned in the medium term . VO 805/04 provides for a European enforcement order for uncontested claims. In 2002 the Commission dealt with issues relating to the order for payment procedure in a Green Paper . The European order for payment procedure was introduced with Regulation (EC) No. 1896/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of December 12, 2006 (entered into force on December 31, 2006; application from December 12, 2008). The regulation applies in all member states of the European Union with the exception of Denmark.

The harmonization of the competency and conflict of laws norms of international private law had also already taken place before the JZZ came into force, namely in the Rome Agreement on the law applicable to contractual obligations from 1980. The transfer to an EC regulation was carried out by the regulation (EC ) of the European Parliament and of the Council on the law applicable to contractual obligations (Rome I) of 6 June 2008.

So far, the substantive contract law has only been harmonized in marginal areas (e.g. doorstep right of withdrawal). In 2004 the Commission issued a Green Paper on maintenance obligations. The insolvency regulation VO 1346/00 is an example of the harmonization of civil procedural procedural rules.

The Vienna Action Plan adopted in 1998 sees future projects in the field of JZZ u. a. a revision of the two Brussels Enforcement Agreements as well as the Rome Agreement on the law applicable to contractual obligations. A counterpart to the latter has also been envisaged for the area of ​​non-contractual obligations ("Rome II"); In 2003 the commission presented a corresponding proposal for a regulation. Furthermore, an agreement was reached on the creation of a "judicial network in civil matters" analogous to that in criminal matters, on an arbitration procedure in the area of family and inheritance law, and on a further improvement in cooperation in the taking of evidence , and the Commission to present a green paper " Alternative dispute resolution "(See also: Alternative Dispute Resolution ).

See also

• Justice and Home Affairs Council

literature

• Commentaries and textbooks on European law
• Rolf Wagner: Current developments in judicial cooperation in civil matters. In: NJW . No. 19, 2012, p. 1333.

Web links

• Official website of the EU

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Regulation (EC) No. 1348/2000 of the Council of 29 May 2000 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters . In: OJ. L 160, June 30, 2000, pp. 37-52.
2. ↑ Regulation (EC) No. 1206/2001 of the Council of 28 May 2001 on cooperation between the courts of the Member States in the taking of evidence in civil or commercial matters . In: OJ. L 174, June 27, 2001, pp. 1-24.
3. ↑ Regulation (EC) No. 44/2001 of the Council of December 22nd, 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters . In: OJ. L 12, January 16, 2001, pp. 1-23.
4. ↑ Regulation (EC) No. 1347/2000 of the Council of 29 May 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and in proceedings relating to parental responsibility for the children of the spouses . In: OJ. L 160, June 30, 2000, pp. 19-36
5. ↑ Regulation (EC) No. 2201/2003 of the Council of 27 November 2003 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and in proceedings relating to parental responsibility and repealing Regulation (EC) No. 1347/2000 . In: OJ. L 338, December 23, 2003, pp. 1-29.
6. ↑ Regulation (EC) No. 1896/2006 (PDF) of the European Parliament and of the Council of December 12, 2006 on the introduction of a European order for payment procedure, OJ. L 399 of December 30, 2006, pp. 1-32.

Please note the information on legal issues!