Tribunalul Satu Mare; 2017-11-23; 2446/83/2017
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:RO:TBSTM:2017:025.000312
Date: 2017-11-23
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Romania

82017RO1123(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
A company, Lorete Exim SRL (hereinafter ‘the plaintiff’), domiciled in Romania, brought an action before the Tribunalul Satu Mare (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) against a company, Manotti SRL, domiciled in Italy. The plaintiff sought confirmation that a sale contract concluded between the parties on 15 January 2016 was terminated by the statement of termination made on 7 July 2016. In the alternative, the plaintiff sought an order to terminate the contract as a result of the defendant's failure to fulfil its contractual obligation to deliver the goods on time. The plaintiff also sought the payment of damages.
The plaintiff relied on Article 7(1)(a) and (b) of the Brussels I Regulation (recast) (1), according to which ‘a person domiciled in a Member State may be sued in another Member State, in matters relating to o a contract, in the courts for the place of performance of the obligation in question’ and ‘the place of performance of the obligation in question shall be, in the case of the sale of goods, the place in a Member State where, under the contract, the goods were delivered or should have been delivered’. The plaintiff claimed that the place of performance of the obligation, i.e., the delivery of the goods, was expressly provided in the sale contract concluded between the parties as Satu Mare, Romania.
The Court of First Instance found that this dispute, having a connection with a foreign element, falls within the jurisdiction of the Romanian courts as the object was a sale contract with the place of performance of the contract, i.e., the delivery of the goods, in Satu Mare. The Court of First Instance upheld the plaintiff’s action.
This first instance decision was further confirmed by the Court of Appeal and became final.
(1) Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.