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Please let me know if Global Debt Recovry can pursue you while living in another country. I have been living abroad for several years and suddenly now I am recieving letters from GDR in the UK for something they claim occured in the R.Ireland. Where does the jurisdiction end. I now live in the south of Europe.
I have sent letter M to them specifying "Status barred".
Don't know much about ROI consumer credit but this is the position vis-a-vis England and as it is based on EU legislation you should be able to pick the bones out of it.
Most contracts have jurisdiction statements along the lines of "This contract is governed by the Laws of England and Wales", AND/OR "This contract is enforceable in the Courts of England and Wales".
Do NOT confuse the two statements, a Foreign Court can hear a case brought before it under another, say English Law and yes, Foreign Judges are competant to rule on such cases.
Clearly, you have all the rights of the English or Irish Law should your contract state so; so for instance, collection agent fees unchargeable in the UK cannot be recovered even if allowed by law in Spain or Portugal etc. as the contract is the base upon which charges are levied and unless the contract allows for recovery of DCA and tracing agents fees then these should be borne by the Creditor.
Similarly, any consumer credit agreement must comply with the jurisdictional law, so CCA S77/S78 applies even if there is no such provision in the local law IF the Contract states that it is subject to the Laws of England and Wales.
Now should the contract be silent as to the Court of Pleading rather than the Law of Jurisdiction then the Plaintiff would need to apply ex parte to the applopriate [Irish] Court for Jurisdiction to Serve Case Papers etc outside of the jurisdiction of the Courts territorial.
So you could get a Court Papers from an Irish Court, in which case you respond as though you were in Ireland stating your Spanish address, of course. If you get the paperwork from the Spanish Courts then you need to ensure they understand that the Applicable Law will be Irish Law and assign it to a English speaking judge. A contract drawn in English should be argued in English.
Once action is commenced in one jurisdiction it cannot be transfered to another without leave of the Court of First Instance. I have seen it argued that this includes pre-trail actions, so in England, a default notice locks the whole process into the English Courts system as the default notice is a precursor to trial. No doubt there is something similar in Ireland.
Ok, now if the contract is silent [very unlikely] then the contract is held to be liable to the Law of and Jurisdiction of the Courts of the land in which it was first created, i.e. where the consideration took place. So, if you lived in Ireland but posted the contract back to Scotland then the applicable law and jurisdiction is SCOTTISH as the contract only became live when your paperwork was received back by the bank unless you completed the application online in which case it's Irish - confusing I know.
So, unless your contract states something else in your case, the Contract is governed by Irish Law but can quite legally be heard in a Court in Spain.
Finally, yes DCAs can operate transnationally BUT must comply with the laws of both their principal, their own state of registration AND the laws of the debtor. So there actions must be vaild in Ireland, Germany and Spain.
Hope this helps, Mike
NB: Where I have said E&W read Scotland or Northern Ireland as appropriate.
So UK would have jurisdiction over a debt in the Republic of Ireland and then over Portugal or Spain. The debt is below a 1000 and is more than 6 years old with out ever hearing a word about it until this year from GDR. I think they know its a recession and go around looking for debts to collect. So they can approach me with UK law then as it was in the Republic of Ireland.
Sorry if I didn't make it clear. If your contract was taken out in ROI and the contract states it is subject to Irish Law then it is the Irish statute of limitations that applies. That is to say, the limitation [statute barred] goes with the law applicable to the contract. The Irish Statute of Limitations Act, 1957, states that after 6 years the debt will be statute barred, that's assuming that in the six year period there has been no, none, zero communication regarding the issue.
This is different to England where you could just not recognise the debt and still rely on the Limitations Act 1980. My understanding of Irish Law is that ANY communication however slight even if only to dispute the debt kills the limitation clock which once stopped cannot be restarted.
I suggest you ignore the muppets from Germany [btw The German Democratic Republic was the old East Germany and ceased to exist in 1989...!]. If they come back, ask them for a copy of the Contract BUT don't use English Law arguments which this website mostly advises on for an Irish Law contract. The key is to get a copy of your agreement and see what it says.
Once you have the contract drop me/the forum a line.
Thanks for your reply. Global debt recovery still hassel my parents who are pensioners for debt even though they have my correct address.
I have contacted them via e-mail and I always get the following response "
In order for us to deal with the matters raised in your last communication you will need to telephone us and discuss the details."
They have sent a list of statements showing the debt for 600€ but they show little information back in 2004. I have requested the CC contract from them.
I really do not want to speak with these people. Please let me know if e-mail is a legal means of communcations.
jurisdiction questions
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Re: jurisdiction questions
