Rechtbank Arnhem, uitspraak van 25/04/2007 150735/HA ZA 07-59
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:NL:RBARN:2007:BA5755
Date: 2007-04-25
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Netherlands

82007NL0425(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE SUMMARY
JURE SUMMARY
The plaintiff is a company domiciled in Switzerland.
The defendant, a company domiciled in Great Britain, is registered in the Dutch commercial register with an Arnhem (NL) business address. The parties executed a contract.
The address in Arnhem served as the mailing address in Arnhem.
The spokesperson for the defendant, who also represented him during the contract closing, was an employee living in the Netherlands. The plaintiff sued the defendant over contractual claims in the Rechtbank of Arnhem (NL).
The defendant contested the jurisdiction of the court, arguing that its domicile and legal address are in Great Britain. The plaintiff countered by citing Article 5(1)(b) Brussels I Regulation, that the executed contract bore no connection to the defendant’s domicile in Great Britain.
The Rechtbank of Arnhem (NL) does not address whether the defendant is domiciled in England as meant by Article 60 Brussels I Regulation. The defendant’s presence on the commercial register shows that it definitely maintains a branch office in and is registered in Arnhem (NL). The Rechtbank finds that the branch office registered in the commercial register acted with regard to the aforementioned matters (correspondence, contact person) as the defendant's branch office. Therefore, as held by the ECJ, it is not necessary to address whether the branch office is legally independent or not. To illustrate, the Rechtbank submits the decisions of the ECJ, 22.11.1978, C 33/78 – Somafer/Saar Ferngas, and ECJ, 09.12.1987, C 218/86 – SAR Schotte/Parfums Rothschild. Accordingly, the legal address of a branch office is sufficient to establish jurisdiction when a company in a Member State conducts business through an independent company with the same management, which takes part in commercial activity in the name of the first company, and thereby extends the reach of the first company.