Mutual Recognition in Civil Matters: An Appraisal Between (partial) Achievements and New Challenges

Recent developments of European Private International Law considerably enhanced the principle of mutual recognition in the framework of judicial cooperation in civil matters. With regard to the free movement of judicial and extrajudicial judgments, the general guidelines provided by the Tampere and Stockholm programmes have been pursued under two different directions. On the one hand, mutual recognition has been achieved by a partial or complete harmonization of procedural law. On the other hand, mutual recognition has entailed a gradual abolition of all intermediate measures or proceedings for the recognition and enforcement of civil judgments issued by Member States. More recently, Regulation No 1215/2012 (Brussels I-bis) has provided for the direct enforcement of judgments given in another Member State without a declaration of enforceability (abolition of exequatur).

Nevertheless, under some of these instruments there remain limits to mutual recognition. For instance, under Brussels I-bis, the person against whom enforcement is sought may apply for refusal of the recognition or enforcement of a judgment if he considers that one of the grounds for refusal of recognition is present. It is also possible to invoke the grounds for refusal available under the national law of the Member State of enforcement.

The main purpose of the paper is to provide a coherent and comprehensive framework of the expansion of the principle of mutual recognition in EPIL instruments. It will then review the challenges posed by the (potential) extension of the principle on other sensitive areas of law, such as family matters and civil status documents.