AUSTRIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Bettina Knoetzl, Patrizia Netal, Katrin Hanschitz and Natascha Tunkel, KNOETZL
• Regulation (EC) No 2019/1111 of the Council of 25 June 2019 concerning jurisdiction and the recogni - tion and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and matters of parental responsibility and international child abduction, which replaces Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003; • Regulation (EC) No 4/2009 of the Council of 18 December 2008 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and co-operation in matters relating to maintenance obligations; • Regulation (EU) No 2016/1104 of the Council of 24 June 2016, implementing enhanced coopera - tion in the area of jurisdiction, applicable law, and the recognition and enforcement of decisions in matters of the property consequences of registered partnerships; and • Regulation (EU) No 2015/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on Insolvency Proceedings. Where Brussels I Recast and the Lugano Convention do not apply, multilateral and bilateral treaties have priority over the subsidiary provisions of the Austrian Enforcement Act. The following multilateral treaties to which Austria is a party (exemplary list) contain specific rules on enforcement or provisions relevant to enforcement proceedings: • the Hague Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Rec - ognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters; • the Hague Convention of 1 March 1954 on Civil Procedure and the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents; • the Hague Convention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters; • various international transportation treaties, including the Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail ( Convention relative aux transports internationaux ferroviaires , or COTIF), the Inter - national Convention concerning the Carriage of Passengers and Luggage by Rail ( Convention inter- nationale concernant le transport des voyageurs et
des bagages par chemin de fer , or CIV), the Inter - national Convention concerning the Carriage of Goods by Rail ( Convention internationale concer- nant le transport des marchandises par chemins de fer , or CIM), the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road ( Conven- tion relative au contrat de transport international de Marchandises par Route , or CMR) and the Conven - tion on the Registration of Inland Navigation Ves - sels of 25 January 1965; and • in the area of family law, the Hague Conventions on matters of family law and civil status of 1958, 1961, 1980, 1996, 2000 and 2007, as well as the Conven - tion on the Recognition of Decisions relating to the Validity of Marriages of 8 September 1967. Outside such multilateral treaties, Austria has been reluctant to enter into bilateral treaties on the recogni - tion and enforcement of judgments. Currently, bilateral treaties are in place, for example, with Israel (BGBl 1968/349), Liechtenstein (BGBl 1956/212, 1975/114), Tunisia (BGBl 1980/305) and Turkey (BGBl 1992/257). 3.3 Categories of Foreign Judgments Not Enforced The main prerequisite for judgments to be enforced is that the relief granted is clearly stated. In general, Austrian law does not differentiate between categories and types of judgments. Special rules do apply, however, particularly in the area of family law (adoption, matrimonial issues, parental responsibility) and the recognition of insolvency proceedings. Regarding default judgments, the right to be heard is safeguarded by the Austrian courts, both under Brussels I Recast and under Austrian law. Pursu - ant to Section 408 of the EA, Austrian courts may refuse recognition and enforcement of the judgment if the defendant was not given sufficient opportunity to participate in the proceedings due to procedural irregularities. Brussels I Recast further provides a stricter regime for interim measures than for final judgments, requiring – in particular – that the court issuing an interim relief is also competent for the main proceedings. However, if this requirement is met, Brussels I Recast also permits
19 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook