Court of Appeal suspends bid to enforce French judgment

The Court of Appeal has suspended proceedings aimed at enforcing in Malta a judgment of the French courts following an appeal lodged in France.

Chief Justice Vincent Degaetano, Mr Justice Anton Depasquale and Mr Justice Albert J. Magri delivered judgment following an application filed by André Guelfi in the course of the proceedings instituted against him by Elf Aquitaine, a French company.

The court heard that on March 31, 2005, Elf Aquitaine had obtained a judgment against Mr Guelfi from the Paris Court of Appeal.

The French company had requested the First Hall of the Civil Court to declare that the foreign judgment could be enforced against Mr Guelfi in Malta in terms of Council Regulations (EC).

The First Hall of the Civil Court upheld Elf Aquitaine's request, and Mr Guelfi appealed from the decision to the Court of Appeal.

In the course of the appeal proceedings in Malta, Mr Guelfi informed the court he had lodged an appeal in France against the judgment of the Paris Court of Appeal.

Mr Guelfi requested the Maltese Court of Appeal to suspend the appeal proceedings until such time as a final judgement was delivered by the French courts.

In its judgment, the Court of Appeal pointed out that the Council Regulations provided that the courts were entitled to suspend proceedings if an ordinary appeal was lodged in the member state of origin.

The court added that case law of the European Court of Human Rights had stipulated that an "ordinary appeal" was an appeal that formed part of the normal course of an action.

The appeal filed by Mr Guelfi in the French courts amounted to an "ordinary appeal" and the Court of Appeal added that it did not result that Elf Aquitaine would suffer irremediable damage if the proceedings were suspended.

The Court of Appeal therefore upheld Mr Guelfi's request and suspended the appeal proceedings.

Lawyer Adrian Delia appeared for Mr Guelfi.