Oberster Gerichtshof, Urteil vom 21/04/2005 6 Ob 67/05d
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:AT:OGH0002:2005:0060OB00067.05D.0421.000
Date: 2005-04-21
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Austria

82005AT0421(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE SUMMARY
JURE SUMMARY
The plaintiff, an Austrian bank, brought an action at the situs of a property in Austria against two defendants domiciled in Germany. The claim against the first defendant was based on a lien on the property. The claim against the second defendant was based on the assertion that she had acceded to the contractual relationship as guarantor. The court of appeal held that the Austrian court had jurisdiction over the first defendant according to Article 22(1) Brussels I Regulation. However, it dismissed the action against the second defendant, which was based on Article 6(1) Brussels I Regulation, for lack of international jurisdiction. The plaintiff appealed. It held that the prerequisites for jurisdiction according to Article 6(1) Brussels I Regulation are already fulfilled where an action is brought against one of the defendants before one of the exclusive jurisdictions provided by Article 22 Brussels I Regulation and the action brought against another defendant is closely connected to it. As the exclusive jurisdiction over the first defendant has been established, the prerequisite of a close connection within Article 6(1) Brussels I Regulation requires that a closely connected action against another defendant can also be brought before that jurisdiction.
The OGH (AT) dismisses the appeal. It holds that the multiparty jurisdiction provided by Article 6(1) Brussels I Regulation allows for concentration of proceedings only in the courts of the domicile of one of the defendants.The fact that a concentration of proceedings could be desirable in other cases, too, is merely a concern of legal policy. It cannot justify an interpretation which goes beyond the clear wording of Article 6 (1)Brussels I Regulation.