Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 16 September 2015 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Anotato Dikastirio Kyprou — Cyprus) — Alpha Bank Cyprus Ltd v Dau Si Senh and Others

(Case C-519/13) ¹

(Reference for a preliminary ruling — Judicial cooperation in civil or commercial matters — Service of judicial and extrajudicial documents — Regulation (EC) No 1393/2007 — Article 8 — Refusal to accept the document — Failure to provide a translation of one of the documents served — Failure to use the standard form set out in Annex II to that regulation — Consequences)

Language of the case: Greek

Referring court

Anotato Dikastirio Kyprou

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Alpha Bank Cyprus Ltd

Defendants: Dau Si Senh, Alpha Panareti Public Ltd, Susan Towson, Stewart Cresswell, Gillian Cresswell, Julie Gaskell, Peter Gaskell, Richard Wernham, Tracy Wernham, Joanne Zorani, Richard Simpson

Operative part of the judgment

Regulation (EC) No 1393/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 November 2007 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (service of documents), and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1348/2000, must be interpreted as meaning that:

–    the receiving agency is required, in all circumstances and without it having a margin of discretion in that regard, to inform the addressee of a document of his right to refuse to accept that document, by using systematically for that purpose the standard form set out in Annex II to that regulation, and

–    the fact that that agency, when serving a document on its addressee, fails to enclose the standard form set out in Annex II to Regulation No 1393/2007, does not constitute a ground for the procedure to be declared invalid, but an omission which must be rectified in accordance with the provisions set out in that regulation.

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¹ OJ C 377, 21.12.2013.