The Court of Appeal in Seville has upheld a Court of First Instance ruling allowing enforcement of a ruling by a UK Court, obtained by claimants who successfully sued Manilva Costa (MC), and Ocean View Properties (OVP), at the Bristol County Court.

MC´s lawyers opposed the enforcement of the Bristol County Court ruling, pursuant to COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, on the following grounds:

• That the UK had no jurisdiction as the case versed on a dispute relating to Spanish property and
• That property developer MC had not been properly served, as a co-defendant alongside now defunct Ocean View Properties.

The claimants petition was upheld by 3 Seville Magistrates who found that, since OVP was domiciled in the UK, a co-defendant (MC) could also be sued in this jurisdiction.

With regards to the inappropriate service of process, the Magistrates argued that because His Honour Judge Denyer QC had certified that the notifications were done observing the formalities of English laws, they could not argue against this.

The enforcement of the UK ruling is now well under way, through the Seville Courts. Equity on the embargoed properties still remain the biggest concern, though.