In October 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union issued a preliminary ruling in response to a question referred by the French Cour de cassation concerning the recognition in France of a Spanish judgment ordering Le Monde and one of its journalists to pay compensation for publishing information that damaged the image of Real Madrid.

At the end of May 2025, the Cour de cassation annulled the earlier decision of the Cour d’appel, which had refused recognition of the Spanish judgment. The Cour d’appel must now issue a new ruling, taking into account the reasoning of the Court of Justice (see G van Calster, «Real Madrid v Le Monde. Following CJEU instructions to a tee, the French Supreme Court annuls court of appeal refusal to recognise alleged «SLAPP» judgment, instructs new assessment», GAVC Law – Geert van Calster, 9 June 2025).

This confirms that, contrary to what some initially believed, the judgment of the Court of Justice did not require the refusal to recognise the Spanish decision. It is true that the Cour d’appel could, based on new arguments, once again refuse recognition; but in any case, the matter remains open.

I take this opportunity to share the English version of a commentary on the Court of Justice’s ruling, which will soon be published in Spanish. As will be seen, the commentary (written in February) already anticipated that the Luxembourg Court’s decision did not necessarily validate the refusal to recognise the Spanish judgment in France — although it did include some “unsettling” observations.

You can read the commentary here: