Order No. 9333 of 2024: Liquidation of Costs in Enforcement Proceedings

With Order No. 9333 of 2024, the Court of Cassation provided an important clarification regarding the liquidation of costs in enforcement proceedings. This ruling fits into a complex legal context, where it is essential to understand how legal costs are determined and which criteria to apply in situations of forced execution.

The Issue of Cost Liquidation

According to Article 95 of the Code of Civil Procedure (c.p.c.), the liquidation of costs must follow specific criteria. In the case at hand, the judges excluded the application of the "disputatum" and "decisum" criteria, which relate to the liquidation of costs in situations of contention between the parties, typical of Article 91 c.p.c. In other words, in the context of forced execution, one cannot speak of a genuine procedural opposition.

The Value of the Dispute and Its Determination

The ruling clarifies that, in enforcement proceedings, the value of the "dispute" cannot be determined using the aforementioned criteria, as the conditions for procedural dialectics are lacking. Therefore, the reference criterion becomes the actual amount of the sums enforced. This approach is based on the principle of the debtor's subjection, which is central to enforcement procedures.

Liquidation of costs pursuant to Article 95 c.p.c. - Value of the dispute - Determination criteria - Decisum and disputatum - Exclusion - Basis - Amount of enforced sums - Existence. For the liquidation of enforcement costs, for the purposes of Article 95 c.p.c., the value of the "dispute" cannot be determined based on the "disputatum" or "decisum" criteria, which pertain to liquidation under Article 91 c.p.c. and, thus, a situation of procedural opposition between parties that entails the condition of one of them being unsuccessful, while enforcement proceedings are guided by the principle of the debtor's subjection and lack a complete procedural dialectics; therefore, the only applicable criterion is that of the actual amount of the sums enforced.

Conclusions

In conclusion, Order No. 9333 of 2024 represents an important reference point for all legal practitioners involved in enforcement procedures. The clarity regarding the criteria for the liquidation of costs, particularly the exclusion of the "disputatum" and "decisum" criteria, provides a solid basis for addressing issues related to legal costs in the context of forced execution. It is essential that lawyers and professionals in the field fully understand these provisions to ensure proper management of legal costs during enforcement.

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