Rechtbank Rotterdam, uitspraak van 07/06/2006 243756/HA ZA 05-2229
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:NL:RBROT:2006:32
Date: 2006-06-07
Subject matter: Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968
Origin: Netherlands

82006NL0607(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE SUMMARY
JURE SUMMARY
The claimant, domiciled in the Netherlands, supplied the defendant, domiciled in Belgium, with polypropylene for twenty years. On its order confirmations and invoices, the claimant always referred to its general conditions of sale. The claimant lodged a claim for payment before the Rechtbank of Rotterdam (NL) based on a delivery from 2003. The defendant challenged the court’s jurisdiction. The claimant relied upon a jurisdiction clause in its general conditions of sale. The defendant argued that they had objected to the incorporation of the conditions of sale in writing twice, once in 2001, and again in 2004. The defendant had also responded to the order confirmation for the delivery that forms the subject matter of this dispute with a different order form.
The Rechtbank of Rotterdam (NL) tests the validity of the jurisdiction clause against Article 23(1)(b) Brussels I Regulation. The court determines that the claimant always made reference on its order confirmations and invoices during the course of habitual commercial relations to its terms and conditions, which contained the jurisdiction clause. The defendant objected to the incorporation of these in 2001, but the parties subsequently continued commercial relations without further protest. Because the defendant’s first objection was made two years after the delivery that forms the subject matter of this claim, and the second objection was only made subsequently, under Article 23(1)(b) Brussels I Regulation, these objections do not prevent a valid agreement to a jurisdiction clause. The order form the defendant objects to differed only as to amendments of the deadline for delivery, invoicing practices, and packaging, and not as to the incorporation of the terms and conditions. The Rechtbank of Rotterdam (NL) declares that it has jurisdiction.