On Thursday 10th February 2022, the School of Law of UCLan Cyprus organised an expert webinar on the ‘Diversity of Enforcement Titles in Cross-border Debt Collection in the European Union’. The School of Law of UCLan Cyprus is a proud to be a partner in the European Union funded project EU-En4s coordinated by the Faculty of Law of the University of Maribor in Slovenia. The expert webinar formed part of the project’s activities and outputs and was attended by legal professionals and other interested parties. The UCLan Cyprus project experts’ team is composed of Professor Stéphanie Laulhé Shaelou, Dr Nevi Agapiou and Dr Demetra Loizou.
The event commenced with a welcoming address by the Head of School of UCLan Cyprus, Professor Stéphanie Laulhé Shaelou. The Head of School introduced the speakers: project coordinator, Professor Vesna Rijavec, Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Maribor, Mr. Denis Baghrizabehi, Research and Teaching Assistant, University of Maribor, and Dr Nicolas Kyriakides, Advocate, Adjunct Faculty at the University of Nicosia.
Professor Rijavec’s presentation on ‘Lis pendens and related actions in cross-border proceedings’ addressed the muddled issue of the (objective) identity of claims in cross-border proceedings. Different EU jurisdictions operate with different conceptions of what the object of the claim is. This is in contrast with the approach of the Court of Justice of the EU which has already elaborated a euro-autonomous concept of the identity. Significantly, this divergent approach causes trouble with understanding when lis pendens situations actually arise. Even harder is the determination of related actions under the Brussels Ia Regulation. Her presentation can be accessed here. In turn, Mr Baghrizabehi presented the main project goals and activities and then proceeded to deliver a second presentation on ‘Res Judicata in the free movement of judges’. According to the speaker, while this notion is famously not expressly regulated by EU instruments such as the Brussels Ia Regulation; on the basis of the theory of extension of effects, a judgement should be recognised with the same effects in the member state of enforcement as those it enjoys in the member state of origin. His presentation can be accessed here. Lastly, Dr Kyriakides delivered a presentation on the ‘European Account Preservation Order and Enforcement of Judgments’. His presentation explored the relationship between the EAPO and enforcement measures in the different Member States as well as other EU-wide instruments. Relatedly, Dr Kyriakides discussed whether it is time to consider any amendments in the different instruments to better facilitate the enforcement of judgments around the EU. His presentation can be accessed here.
The three presentations were followed by a round-table discussion which was moderated by Dr Nevi Agapiou, Lecturer in International Commercial Law and Dispute Resolution and Dr Demetra Loizou, Lecturer in International Criminal Law, UCLan Cyprus. You may view the video of the event here.
The Expert Webinar ‘Diversity of Enforcement Titles in Cross-border Debt Collection in the European Union’ was Accredited by the Cyprus Bar Association for the provision of CPD programmes.
