Oberster Gerichtshof, Urteil vom 08/05/2000 5 Nd 523/99
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:AT:OGH0002:2000:0050ND00523.99.0508.000
Date: 2000-05-08
Subject matter: Lugano Convention
Origin: Austria

82000AT0508(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE SUMMARY
JURE SUMMARY
The plaintiff is a lawyer with a practice in Vienna (AT). He represented the defendant, who is domiciled in the United Kingdom, in a matter concerning immovable property. He had accepted a certain sum of money on behalf of the defendant and lodged it in an account held on trust. After the defendant did not pay the fees of the plaintiff, he deposited a sum corresponding to his fees at the OLG of Vienna (AT). The plaintiff brought an action before the inner city Bezirksgericht of Vienna (AT) seeking the agreement of the defendant to the payment of the deposited sum to him. The action was dismissed in the first and second instances on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction. The plaintiff subsequently applied to the OGH (AT) for the determination of a competent Austrian court in the so-called process of ordination. He claimed that the decision regarding the payment of a sum deposited at a domestic court could only be made by an Austrian court. Due to the unreasonableness of pursuing the claim abroad, the plaintiff asserted that a competent domestic court must be made available.
The OGH dismisses the application of the plaintiff. It determines that the provisions regarding international jurisdiction of the Brussels Convention and the Lugano Convention are conclusive. Therefore, within the scope of the conventions, jurisdiction can only ever be determined according to the provisions which it provides. If none of the forums provided in the conventions arise, then no domestic forum exists. The provisions of the Austrian law of civil procedure, according to which a competent domestic court must be made available, is not suited to establishing domestic jurisdiction, but rather sets this as a prerequisite. In this case, the provisions of the conventions, in particular pursuant to Article 5(1) Lugano Convention, do not found the jurisdiction of the Austrian courts. Therefore, there is no basis on which to determine a territorially competent, domestic court.