Tribunal da Relação do Porto; 2021-11-22; 2549/20.0T8VFR-A.P1
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:PT:TRP:2021:2549.20.0T8VFR.A.P1.D4
Date: 2021-11-22
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters;Lugano Convention
Origin: Portugal

82021PT1122(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
I. International jurisdiction in matters between persons domiciled in different States is governed either by the law of the European Union (the Brussels I Regulation (1)), or by the rules of conventional international law (the Brussels Convention (2) or the new Lugano Convention (3)).
II. If one of the parties is domiciled in Switzerland, civil and commercial matters shall be governed by the new Lugano Convention.
III. Article 2 of the new Lugano Convention lays down the general principle of jurisdiction: ‘persons domiciled in a State bound by this Convention shall, whatever their nationality, be sued in the courts of that State.’
IV. The new Lugano Convention also provides for special grounds of jurisdiction, and Article 3 stipulates that ‘persons domiciled in a State bound by this Convention may be sued in the courts of another State bound by this Convention only by virtue of the rules set out in Sections 2 to 7 of this Title’.
V. One of the grounds for special jurisdiction derives from Article 5(1) of the new Lugano Convention, which provides that ‘a person domiciled in a State bound by this Convention may, in another State bound by this Convention, be sued, in matters relating to a contract, in the courts for the place of performance of the obligation in question.’
VI. The present case concerns the provision of services within the meaning of Article 5(1) of the Rome Convention (4), which includes the provision of services in the general sense of activities carried out in the interest of another person. In the present case, the obligation was performed in Switzerland, where the goods were delivered. Accordingly, the competent courts are those for the place (in the contracting State’s territory) where the services were provided and the goods were delivered. The courts of Switzerland have jurisdiction.
(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.
(2) Brussels Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.
(3) Convention on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.
(4) Convention on the law applicable to contractual obligations opened for signature in Rome on 19 June 1980. (Note: the judgment suddenly refers to the Rome Convention, although the court may have had the new Lugano Convention in mind).