Real Madrid Club du Fùtboll, AE v. EE, Société éditrice du Monde SA, Case C-633/22, CJEU (Grand Chamber), 4 October 2024

Refusal of enforcement of a foreign judgment contrary to public policy (ordre public) as such enforcement is manifestly violating freedom of expression and information. 

Art. 11 EUCFR

Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters

1. A Member State of the EU may refuse to enforce a judgment issued in another Member State if the enforcement would result in a manifest violation of the freedom of expression and information enshrined in Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. A judgment ordering a newspaper publisher and one of its journalists to compensate a sports company and a member of its medical team for reputational damage may be deemed incompatible with the public policy (ordre public) of another EU Member State.
 

2. In the present case, the Spanish football club Real Madrid and a member of its medical team (AE) sued a journalist from Le Monde (EE) and Société éditrice du Monde SA before the Court of First Instance of Madrid seeking compensation for damages caused by a defamatory publication. The Spanish court ordered EE and Société éditrice du Monde SA to pay significant damages. The claimants then sought to enforce the judgment in France, where the defendants had most of their assets.