Avotiņš C. Letonia, Sentencia del TEHD, de 23 de mayo de 2016, as. 17502/07

Abstract

The ECtHR Grand Chamber decision in Avotins c. Latvia was delivered on May 23, 2016. The decision allows for some reflections regarding Council Regulation (EC) nº 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, in particular about how art 34.2 should be applied, and the division of roles (and responsibilities) between the Member State of origin and the Member State where recognition is sought, in case of a violation of art. 6 ECHR. Of greatest interest is nevertheless what the decision implies in terms of relations between the Courts of Strasbourg and Luxembourg, in the aftermath of the CJEU Opinion 2/13. The test Bosphorus is not abandoned, yet the ECtHR makes clear that mutual trust is not an unconditional value. Actually, nor is it to the CJEU. The key issue is rather whether the Courts agree on the limits to mutual trust - in particular, on whether the violation of rights of the ECHR in a Member State must necessarily amount to a systemic failure to justify a breach of the mutual trust mandate within the EU.