Differences in judicial and administrative proceedings within the territory of the European Union countries, their complexity and language problems effectively discourage Europeans from settling and working or studying in another EU country. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, are deterred from expanding their business abroad. Although in the vast majority of cases with an international aspect, the help of a professional is unavoidable, in today's post I will try to explain briefly, where to start in a cross-border case. After reading this post, you will easily determine which court will have jurisdiction over your case! And this is often already half the battle. 
I invite you to read!
Where to start with a cross-border case?
The European Union has taken a number of measures to simplify certain judicial and administrative procedures. Numerous training courses are conducted for international lawyers to equip them with the relevant knowledge in this area. Lawyers working in our firm actively participate in them for one important reason. What motivates us to do so?
Willingness to explain to our customers complex legal systems of other EU countries in a simple and understandable way. Why is this task not as easy as it might seem?
Mainly because the way in which a case is referred to court varies from one Member State to another. As a rule, everything depends on the nature of the request and the circumstances in which it is made and the type of court.
What if the scope of your case goes beyond the borders of one EU country?
First of all - in the first instance - establish, which court will take up the case and how the judgment will be recognised and enforced in another EU country.
The conflict-of-law rules, i.e. the rules indicating the competent court that will hear the case, are contained in the Brussels I Regulation - i.e. Regulation No 44/2001 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil matters and commercial. It follows from the regulation that, among other things a cross-border case should be heard by a court in the defendant's country of residence. However - as you can guess - there are numerous exceptions to this rule.
Example
An example would be claims that arise from a contract. For these types of cases, they are dealt with by the court at the place, in which the obligation in question was to be performed.
In non-contractual matters, the courts of the place where the harmful event occurred will generally have jurisdiction. What does this actually mean?
If you have been injured in a country, the case may also be heard by a court in the country where you were injured.
I have established a court of competent jurisdiction, what next?
At the same time as determining the competent court to hear your cross-border case, you should also determine the law applicable to the legal relationship.... OK, so now let's translate this "from Polish to ours".
Choosing and determining which court has jurisdiction to hear a case is one thing. However, determining under which law the court should hear the case is another.
Here, the conflict of laws rules apply, which have been codified by the European Union in various regulations. One of these is Rome I and Rome II, as well as the European Union Succession Regulation. It is in these regulations (which deal with specific areas of private law) that we will find the norms which will indicate which law (the so-called law of which country) will apply to our case.
With regard to non-EU cross-border matters, multilateral international conventions will be such a source of conflict-of-law rules. These are the ones that regulate cross-border legal relations between - for example - Poland and Vietnam or Cuba.
How to apply the law in question?
Courts are obliged to apply the conflict of laws rules ex officio. This means that the judge must apply the law of another country. This happens if the conflict rule indicates that this law is applicable to a particular case. Accordingly, a situation may arise in which a Polish court will have to deal with a case on the basis of foreign legislation.
Where to start with a cross-border case? Summary
To sum up - if we undertake an analysis of the conflict of laws rules in a particular situation, we have to reckon with the difficulties associated with the fact that many of these rules are found in different pieces of legislation. This is why the Hague Conference on Private International Law, an organisation that has existed since the 19th century, has taken as its goal the work on the progressive unification of the rules of private international law.
A large number of country representatives from all over the world belong to this non-governmental organisation. Currently, there are as many as 75 countries in total! It is from its Among other things, conventions have come out of their pens:
- on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction 1980,
- on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition, enforcement and cooperation in respect of parental responsibility and child protection measures; and
- on the recognition of divorce and separation.
Do you have a cross-border matter to deal with and would like to consult a lawyer? We encourage you to contact our law firm. You can do so by telephone on the following telephone number +48 606 608 089 or by e-mail to sekretariat@bktkancelaria.pl.
