Legal Action and Enforcement (execution) Proceedings

It should be noted that that the success of any legal proceedings always depends on the specific circumstances of each case and that a positive outcome of a lawsuit can never be predicted with absolute certainty.

The action must be brought before the court having territorial and subject-matter jurisdiction. If the parties to the proceedings are located in different countries, complications may arise as to determining which court has territorial jurisdiction. As a general rule, the action is brought before the court having territorial jurisdiction at the place where the defendant resides. In the Czech Republic, this would be a district or regional court (Please not that the names of courts do not always correspond to this division completely. In Prague, for instance, courts in individual municipal districts perform the role of district courts and the Municipal Court in Prague performs the role of a regional court). There are, however, various exceptions from this general rule, so it is advisable to agree on the territorial jurisdiction of courts in the contract in advance.

The costs of legal proceedings usually depend on the amount claimed in the lawsuit. It is also necessary to take into account additional costs of obtaining expert opinions from sworn experts, for example in connection with collecting evidence, especially when it comes to the determination of the real amount of damage.

If the plaintiff wins the lawsuit, any subsequent enforcement of the amount concerned takes place where the debtor (defendant) resides. The enforcement is carried out by the competent national judicial bodies. This, too, may lead to enforcement in another EU country.

Example

A Belgian artist has successfully asserted a claim against a Hungarian organiser in court. The parties previously agreed that Belgian law would apply and they specified Brussels as the place of jurisdiction. Based on this, the Belgian artist has obtained a writ of execution (i.e. the final and enforceable judgment serving as the basis for the initiation of enforcement proceedings/execution) from the Belgian court.  How and where will this writ of execution be applied?

Thanks to European law, the enforcement (execution) does not have to be initiated in the Belgian court. On the other hand, a writ of execution (the final and enforceable judgment) issued by the Belgian court can be applied directly in Hungary. However, as regards formal requirements relating to the enforcement/execution proceedings, it is recommended to use the services of a specialised legal consultant.