The Brussels Ia Regulation regulates in Section III, i.e. from Articles 36 to 57, the recognition and enforcement of court decisions, authentic instruments and court settlements in civil and commercial cases with a cross-border dimension. A decision made in one EU Member State is recognised in another Member State - including Bulgaria - without the need for a special procedure or declaration of enforceability. The procedure is characterised by the following features: it is subject to as few formalities as possible, a foreign decision may under no circumstances be reviewed on the merits, a decision does not have to be final but enforceable; protective measures (interim measures including protective measures) are permitted; the reasons for refusing recognition are reduced to a minimum and listed in detail in the Regulation. A translation of the documents is only required if the provisions of the Regulation expressly require it. The translation must be prepared by a person authorised to prepare translations in one of the Member States. Legalisation or similar formalities are not required for documents issued in a Member State.

I. Jurisdiction

Persons domiciled in the territory of a Member State may be sued in the courts of that Member State. This means that nationality is irrelevant for the initiation of these proceedings; the only thing that matters is the debtor's place of residence. Persons domiciled in the territory of a Member State may only be sued in the courts of another Member State in exceptional circumstances, in accordance with the provisions of the Regulation.

In addition, if the parties, regardless of their place of residence, have agreed that a court or the courts of a Member State should have jurisdiction to settle any future dispute arising out of a particular legal relationship, that court or the courts of that Member State shall have jurisdiction.

In this context, it should be noted that where actions involving the same cause of action and between the same parties are brought before the courts of different Member States, the court second seised shall of its own motion stay its proceedings until the jurisdiction of the court first seised is established.

II. Recognition

The recognition of foreign judicial decisions given in another Member State is discussed in more detail in Article 36(1) of the Regulation, namely: Decisions given in one Member State shall be recognised in the other Member States without any special procedure being required.

In order to rely on this decision, the party must produce a copy of the decision which satisfies the conditions necessary for its evidentiary value and a certificate issued in accordance with Article 53 of the Regulation. It should be noted that the court may, where appropriate, request the party, but is not obliged to, produce a written translation into the official language of the relevant country, prepared by a person authorised to translate in that country.

The proceedings may be stayed, in whole or in part, by the court or authority before which a judgment given in another Member State is relied on if:

• the decision is contested in the Member State of origin;
• a declaration that none of the grounds for refusal of recognition referred to in Article 45 apply, or a declaration that recognition should be refused on one of those grounds, has been requested.

Recognition of a judicial decision may be refused only on the following grounds, it being noted that the same grounds apply both to recognition and to enforcement of the decision, namely if:

• recognition would be manifestly contrary to the public policy of the requested Member State;
• the defendant, who has defaulted in appearance, was not served with the document instituting the proceedings or with an equivalent document in sufficient time and in such a way as to enable him to arrange for his defence, unless the defendant did not appeal against the decision when he had the opportunity to do so;
• the judgment is irreconcilable with a judgment given between the same parties in the requested Member State;
• the judgment is irreconcilable with an earlier judgment given in another Member State or in a third State in proceedings concerning the same cause of action and between the same parties, provided that the earlier judgment satisfies the conditions necessary for its recognition in the requested Member State, or
• the judgment is incompatible with the rules on special jurisdiction in insurance cases, in consumer cases and in individual employment contracts where the defendants are the policyholder, the insured, a beneficiary of the insurance contract, an injured party, a consumer or an employee, and also where recognition is contrary to the provisions on exclusive jurisdiction in Article 24 of the Regulation.

Member States are not entitled to introduce additional grounds for refusal of recognition which differ from those laid down in the Regulation.

III. Enforcement

A judgment given in a Member State which is enforceable in that Member State shall be enforceable in the other Member States without the need for a declaration of enforceability. A judgment given in a Member State which is enforceable in the requested Member State shall be enforced there under the same conditions as a judgment given in the requested Member State. To this end, an application shall be made to the competent enforcement authority, such as a private bailiff, thereby avoiding the procedure before the Bulgarian courts for the issue of an enforceable title. The application shall be accompanied by a copy of the judgment which satisfies the conditions necessary to establish its authenticity and a certificate issued in accordance with Article 53 confirming that the judgment is enforceable and containing an extract from the judgment and, where appropriate, relevant information on the recoverable costs of the proceedings and the calculation of interest. An important provision in this case is that the executing authority may request the applicant to provide a translation of the decision if the actual decision cannot be continued without the translation.

When enforcing a judgment given in another Member State, the certificate issued shall be served on the debtor before the first enforcement measure. The judgment shall be attached to the certificate if it has not yet been served on the debtor.

IV. Provisional measures, including protective measures

Also relevant in this respect is the fact that such provisional, including protective, measures may be sought in the courts of that Member State even if the courts of another Member State have jurisdiction as to the substance of the case. The nature and procedure for enforcing those measures shall be determined by the law applicable in the Member State in which they are sought.

V. Protection from Enforcement

The person against whom enforcement is sought may defend himself by filing an application for non-enforcement of the judicial decision on the grounds set out above. In this case, the requested Member State has three options:

• to limit the enforcement proceedings to protective measures;
• to make enforcement dependent on the provision of security to be determined by the court and
• to suspend the enforcement proceedings in whole or in part.

The competent authority of the requested Member State shall suspend the enforcement proceedings at the request of the debtor if the enforceability of the decision is suspended in the Member State of origin.

The applicant shall submit to the court a copy of the decision and, where appropriate, a translation or transliteration of the decision.

The court may waive the production of the documents if it already has them or if it considers it unreasonable to require the applicant to produce them. In the latter case, the court may require the other party to produce those documents.

The court shall decide promptly on the application for refusal of enforcement, as the regulation provides for the possibility of lodging an appeal.

VI. Provisions of the Bulgarian Code of Civil Procedure

The direct recognition of foreign court decisions pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 is regulated in Bulgaria under Article 621 of the Bulgarian Code of Civil Procedure, namely: A court decision or other document shall be recognised by the authority before which it is brought on the basis of a copy certified by the court which issued it and, where appropriate, an accompanying certificate required by a European Union regulation. The decisions covered by Article 21.1 of Council Regulation (EU) No 2201/2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgements in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000 shall be recognised by the authorities competent for registration.

The person concerned is granted another opportunity to apply for recognition of a foreign decision from the regional court having jurisdiction over the opposing party's permanent residence or registered office, and if the opposing party does not have a permanent residence or registered office in the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria - from the court having jurisdiction over his or her own permanent residence or registered office.

With regard to Bulgarian civil proceedings, the provisions of Article 622a paragraph 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure must be taken into account with regard to enforcement: a decision given in another Member State of the European Union is subject to enforcement without the need for an enforcement title.

When enforcing the judgment, the bailiff shall serve a copy of the certificate issued pursuant to Article 53 of the Regulation, thereby reminding the debtor to perform the judgment voluntarily. The certificate shall be accompanied by a copy of the judgment issued in another Member State of the European Union, if it has not yet been served on the debtor. The debtor may submit an application for refusal of enforcement within one month of the service. If the judgment requires a translation, the deadline is suspended until it is delivered to the debtor. The application shall be submitted to the regional court where the debtor has his permanent residence if he is a natural person, or to the enforcement court if he is a legal person. The court order issued on the application may be appealed to the Court of Appeal in Sofia, and the decision of the Court of Appeal in Sofia may be appealed to the Supreme Court of Cassation.