Nicoara & Asociatii obtained the final annulment of a payment order requiring our client to pay EUR 550,544.66, together with statutory interest and legal costs.
The legal context
The dispute arose from a commercial relationship concerning products supplied for our client's production process.
The supplier sought a payment order for invoices exceeding EUR 550,000. The payment obligation had, however, been disputed because the supplied products presented non-conformities affecting their use in the production process and the quality of the final output.
Documentary evidence, commercial correspondence, technical documentation, photographs and laboratory analyses were submitted in support of the challenge.
A legitimate dispute over payment
The defence demonstrated that the refusal to pay was not merely formal but was based on specific issues concerning the conformity of the supplied products.
The nature and effects of the non-conformities could not be determined solely from the invoices. The matter required an examination of the contractual relationship, technical documents and quality evidence, together with evidence appropriate to ordinary civil proceedings.
The court's findings
The payment order procedure may be used only where the alleged claim is certain, liquid and due.
The court found that the payment obligation had been legitimately disputed and that the challenge was supported by relevant evidence. Determining product conformity and the scope of any obligations between the parties required a full evidentiary review incompatible with the summary payment order procedure.
The court held that the contractual relationship required appropriate technical evidence, which could only be administered in ordinary proceedings.
The outcome
By a final judgment delivered on 30 May 2025, the Bacau Tribunal:
- granted the application for annulment filed on behalf of our client;
- annulled the payment order in full;
- removed the immediate payment obligation of EUR 550,544.66 and the ancillary effects established by the order.
The judgment confirms that invoices alone are insufficient for a payment order where the claim is seriously and legitimately disputed and performance of the contract raises technical and legal matters requiring complex evidence.