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Bavarian Higher Regional Court, File 101 AR 9/24 e of 15 May 2024

 

Following a road accident in Slovenia, the injured party, who lives in Passau, filed an action before the Passau Regional Court in his district of residence. The claimant, who is resident in Passau, filed his claim with this court, demanding compensation from the defendants as joint and several debtors for a traffic accident that occurred in Slovenia on 27 September 2023.

Following details are important in this case: The motorhome driven by the defendant is registered with a public limited company under Swiss law with its registered office in St. Gallen/Switzerland and a branch office entered in the Commercial Register B of the Local Court of Frankfurt am Main. The defendant is resident in the district of the Regional Court of Stuttgart.

 

The defendants objected to the lack of territorial jurisdiction of the court seised

In their statement of defence and again in their statement of defence, the defendants objected to the lack of territorial jurisdiction of the court seised, which in turn had issued an order for written preliminary proceedings stating that it did not have territorial jurisdiction for the action in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure and Regulation (EU) No. 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (Brussels Ia Regulation).

 

As a result, the applicant filed an application with the Bavarian Higher Regional Court to determine the Passau Regional Court, alternatively the Stuttgart Regional Court and again alternatively the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court as the competent court for the legal dispute.

 

With regard to the insurer, the competent court was the Regional Court of Passau

In the proceedings to determine the place of jurisdiction, the parties were informed that, with regard to the insurer, the competent court is the Regional Court of Passau in accordance with the relevant Lugano Convention on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters of 30 October 2007 (Lugano Convention). According to the court, the Regional Court of Passau has international and local jurisdiction under the relevant Lugano Convention of 30 October 2007 (Lugano Convention), there is no common domestic place of jurisdiction for the legal dispute and the court's discretionary power to choose the place of jurisdiction is limited because the primacy of the Lugano Convention must also be observed in the determination procedure. You have been given the opportunity to submit facts that may be relevant for the legal categorisation of the defendant's ‘Directorate for Germany’ as a branch office in accordance with the autonomous legal understanding of the Lugano Convention and for the question of whether a dispute arises from the operation of this branch office. For further details, reference is made to the note of 8 March 2024.

 

The defendants commented that a decision should be made on the basis of the files. The claimant asserted that only the Passau Regional Court could be considered; such a decision would also appear to be appropriate.

 

The court's decision is summarised as follows:

 

The international jurisdiction for an action against a motor vehicle liability insurance company domiciled in Switzerland, in which an accident victim resident in Germany claims damages for a traffic accident in a Member State of the European Union, is governed by the Lugano Convention on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters of 30 October 2007 (Lugano Convention), notwithstanding the fact that the action can be served in Germany at the address of the organisational unit designated as the ‘Directorate for Germany’.

 

Because the traffic accident at issue occurred in Slovenia, the relationship between the parties to the proceedings residing in Germany, the claimant and the defendant is a so-called non-genuine domestic case to which the Brussels Ia Regulation applies in principle.

 

 

Link to the decision in full text: 101 AR 9/24 e

 

 

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