Judge Pollard Ruling Foils Another Sale

District Judge Pollard Court Order Questioned By Spanish Court

23 August 2009

The Torrox Court in Andalucia has questioned the court order of an English judge because it is impossible to implement in Spain.  Spanish lawyer, Snr. Enrique Delgado Scharzmann explained that the Spanish judge simply cannot uphold the English court order because it is written in such vaque terms as to not have any relevance or legal standing in the Spanish court.

De Cotta Law or De Cotta McKenna & Santafé, representing Valerie C. Russell, the petitioner, applied to the Hastings County Court for the wording of the court order to be corrected without a hearing. The respondent in the case, Mr. Kirwan, also applied to have the court order corrected by Hastings County Court in order to sell his property and honour the court order. So far the application has been unsuccessful. So why has the correction not been done?

District Judge Pollard as he is now, is no longer dealing with the case; that task has fallen to Judge Guinan. After reading the respondent’s application she requested a letter be sent to Jon Sutton, partner of De Cotta Law.  This may seem rather strange when both parties want the same thing but that is the fact of the matter.

However, the solicitor has shown reluctance or at the very least sluggishness in replying. He has failed to answer the letter sent out by Hastings Couty Court enquiring into their agreement of something they have petitioned the court to do. This may be surprising to the casual reader of this blog but regulars know better.

The lack of response has caused another sale (the fifth) to be lost by the respondent and seems typical of the cat and mouse games De Cotta Law appear to be enjoying. By using a highly suspicious mistranslated version of the court order, making their third appeal against a Spanish court ruling (this time in England) and therefore moving the playing field back to England these carefully engineered moves by the Goliath of expatriot law firms in Spain seem intent on squashing poor David.

A hearing in Hastings County Court has been set for the 16th September 2009. Once again Mr. Kirwan, as things stand at present will have no legal represtation in England. Is there a Law Firm in England prepared to take this on?

District Judge Pollard made an impossible court order and must surely bear the responsibility of his actions. Time will tell whether restitution will be made to the respondent for the damage, stress and finacial loss suffered by this man’s action.

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Injustice in Europe – A Review

Following many comments both public and private I thought it necessary to publish a review.

Summary:

2001: 6 months after making the move to Spain wife deserts husband. Husband sends €90,000 (all joint savings) to wife in order for her to start new life in England. Wife sues for divorce. No papers were ever received by husband.

2004: Aug. 11th. Divorce settlement case in Hastings County Court, England. Wife legally represented, husband represented himself (no legal representation was available due to his residency in Spain). Court awards wife £66,590 payable within 3 months. Interest rate set at 8% while in Spain it was 3%.

2004/5 Edward tries to appeal decision. Appeal denied. Edward engages Estate Agents.

2005: Aug. 6th.   Edward, trying to honour debt, finds first buyer for property. Edward receives mail from DeCotta Law  stating they represent Valerie Celia Russell who will not accept any sale “on the basis that the proceeds will cover the entire judgment debt”   There was a shortfall of some £8,500.  Additionally, …”we have had the court order legalised and translated into Spanish” quote from  Jon Sutton, DeCotta McKenna and  Santafé.

2005: Aug.11th. English Court Order translated by official Sworn Translator. (incorrectly) Edward suffers work related accident and becomes disabled.

2008: May. Spanish Court Order discovered on noticeboard of Torrox Court by friend of Edward. Official notice dated February 2008. No other notice received by Edward.

2008: Sept/Nov: New buyer found. New buyer told, in writing by DeCotta McKenna and Santafé, that Edward’s 50% of the property was set to be auctioned on 16th Dec. at Torrox Court. The  Official Translation of the original English Court Order was found to be incorrect. Torrox Court deny issuing order for 16th Dec auction and supply no details as to how a public auction is to be carried out and state that the auction is set for 21st January 2009.

Slipping through the legal net, a 53 year old Englishman, resident in Spain, is to lose his house and home within a matter of days. He has fallen victim to cross-border legal processes and unfortunate circumstances which include an archaic and somewhat secretive, local legal system.