Polish alimony ruling 'enforceable' in Malta due to EU accession
A Maltese judge has ordered that a judgment handed down by a Polish court, ordering a Maltese man to pay his former Polish wife maintenance, was to be enforced here on the strength of an EU regulation. The Polish woman had filed an application against...
A Maltese judge has ordered that a judgment handed down by a Polish court, ordering a Maltese man to pay his former Polish wife maintenance, was to be enforced here on the strength of an EU regulation.
The Polish woman had filed an application against her former husband in the First Hall of the Civil Court.
In the application, signed by lawyer Cedric Mifsud, the woman explained that on October 22, 2004, the Warsaw district court had ordered her ex-husband to pay her 1,500 zloty (about Lm154) a month in maintenance for the period between March 14, 2002 and September 9, 2003. But, she explained, her ex-husband, who was in Malta, never paid the maintenance.
As a Polish woman and, therefore, a citizen of the European Union, she called on the Maltese courts to enforce the judgment handed down by the Polish court.
Mr Justice Joseph Micallef, sitting in the First Hall of the Civil Court, heard the man argue that the judgment handed down by the Polish court contradicted what had been agreed to in a private separation contract drafted in Malta in which his ex-wife renounced any maintenance.
Mr Justice Micallef referred to the EU regulation entitled On Jurisdiction And The Recognition And Enforcement Of Judgement In Civil And Commercial Matters, which formed part of Maltese law. The regulation allowed for a judgment handed down in one member state to be recognised and enforced in another.
On examining the argument brought forward by the man, Mr Justice Micallef noted that, although Maltese law recognised both a judgment and a contract as executive titles, it still differentiated between the two. Apart from that, the term "judgment" as defined in the EU regulation did not include contracts as part of its meaning.
The judge added that the separation contract did not mention the pending proceedings before the Polish court, which were known to the man at the time.
Mr Justice Micallef consequently ordered that the judgment handed down by the Polish court be put into immediate effect.