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Mutual assistance for the recovery of claims.
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108.—(1) (a) In this section—
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“Commission Directive” means Commission Directive No. 77/794/EEC of 4 November 19771
;
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“Council Directive” means Council Directive No. 76/308/EEC of 15 March 19762
, as amended by Council Directive No. 79/1071/EEC of 6 December 19793
and Council Directive No. 92/12/EEC of 25 February 1992.
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(b) A word or expression that is used in this section and is also used in the Council Directive or in the Commission Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the same meaning in this section as it has in the Council Directive or the Commission Directive, as the case may be.
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(2) The amount of excise duty specified in any request duly made pursuant to the Council Directive by an authority in another Member State, for the recovery in the State of any amount claimed by such an authority pursuant to a claim referred to in Article 2 of the Council Directive, is recoverable in any court of competent jurisdiction by the Minister for Finance and for the purposes of the foregoing the amount is to be regarded as being a debt due to that Minister, by the person against whom the claim is made by such an authority, in respect of a duty or tax under the care and management of the Commissioners or a simple contract debt due by such person to that Minister, as may be appropriate.
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(3) The rules laid down in—
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(a) Articles 4 to 12 and 14 to 17 of the Council Directive, and
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(b) Articles 2 to 21 of the Commission Directive,
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shall apply in relation to claims in respect of excise duty referred to in Article 2 of the Council Directive which arise in another Member State and which are the subject of legal proceedings instituted under this section.
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(4) In any legal proceedings instituted under this section, any document which is in the form specified in Annex III to the Commission Directive and which purports to be authenticated in the manner specified in Article 11 of that Directive is to be received in evidence without proof of any seal or signature or that any signatory to such document was the proper person to sign it, and such document shall, until the contrary is shown, be sufficient evidence of the facts stated in it.
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(5) (a) Legal proceedings instituted under this section for the recovery of any sum are to be stayed if the defendant satisfies the court that legal proceedings relevant to his or her liability on the claim to which the proceedings so instituted relate are pending, or are about to be instituted, before a court, tribunal or other competent body in another Member State, but any such stay may be removed if the legal proceedings in such Member State are not prosecuted or instituted with reasonable expedition.
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(b) In any legal proceedings instituted under this section—
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(i) it is a defence for the defendant to show that a final decision on the claim to which the proceedings relate has been given in favour of such defendant by a court, tribunal or other body of competent jurisdiction in another Member State, and
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(ii) in relation to any part of a claim to which such legal proceedings relate, it is a defence for the defendant to show that such a decision has been given in relation to that part of the claim.
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(c) No question shall be raised in any legal proceedings instituted under this section as to the defendant's liability on the claim to which the proceedings relate except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection.
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(d) For the purposes of this section, legal proceedings shall be regarded as pending so long as an appeal may be brought against any decision in the proceedings, and for these purposes a decision against which no appeal lies, or against which an appeal lies within a period which has expired without an appeal having been brought, is to be regarded as being a final decision.
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1 O.J. No. L333 of 24 December, 1977, p.11
2 O.J. No. L73 of 19 March, 1976, p.18
3 O.J. No. L331 of 27 December, 1979, p.10 |
