Tribunal da Relação de Lisboa; 2024-07-04; 94/21.5T8ALM.L1-6
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:PT:TRL:2024:94.21.5T8ALM.L1.6.A6
Date: 2024-07-04
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Portugal

82024PT0704(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
1. The absolute jurisdiction of the court is a procedural requirement that is determined by how the plaintiff frames the claim and the cause of action.
2. Where the plaintiff is a professional footballer who has pursued and continues to pursue his activities principally in Portugal and who seeks compensation from the defendant [based in the United States of America] for the damage caused by the unauthorised use of his name and image in video games produced in the United States of America and distributed worldwide, the claim and the underlying cause of action fall within Article 62(a) and (b) of the CPC (1). The Court of First Instance/Portuguese court, therefore, has international jurisdiction.
3. Given that the Supremo Tribunal de Justiça (hereinafter ‘the Supreme Court’) has long recognised, in cases similar to those referred to in paragraph 4.2, the jurisdiction of the Portuguese courts (based on the principles of coincidence and causality) to hear non-contractual civil liability actions brought by football players (seeking compensation for the unauthorised use of their name and image in video games produced in the United States of America), and the absence of compelling reasons (based on strict criteria, persuasive contributions from legal doctrine and/or new arguments) to justify departing from that settled case law of the Supreme Court, the rule of common sense, prudence, wisdom and legal certainty (in particular, having regard to Article 629(2)(a) and Article 671(2)(a) and (3) of the CPC for appeal) require that such case law be followed and upheld, thereby avoiding excesses of self-assertion incompatible with the value of legal certainty.
(1) Código de Processo Civil (Code of Civil Procedure).