Oberster Gerichtshof, Urteil vom 21/03/2005 10 Nc 7/05v
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:AT:OGH0002:2005:0100NC00007.05V.0321.000
Date: 2005-03-21
Subject matter: Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968
Origin: Austria

82005AT0321(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE SUMMARY
JURE SUMMARY
The plaintiff is a shipping company with its seat in Austria. It transported goods twice for the defendant, a company with its seat in Slovenia. The goods were accepted from the defendants at various locations in Austria. The plaintiff sought a decision from the OGH (AT) as to which court in Austria had jurisdiction over the action which was brought before the Bezirksgericht of Leibnitz (AT) (under the so called ordination process). The plaintiff submitted that the Austrian courts had international jurisdiction. The Austrian law of civil procedure, however, did not specify which particular court was competent.
The OGH grants the request for determination of jurisdiction. The international jurisdiction of the Austrian courts arises out of Article 31 CMR. The rules of jurisdiction in Article 31 CMR take priority as lex specialis to the jurisdictional regime of the Brussels I Regulation in accordance with Article 71 Brussels I Regulation. Therefore, in matters within the scope of the CMR, the CMR rules of jurisdiction apply. Both Austria and Slovenia are Contractual States to the CMR. The Austrian courts are internationally competent as the transport services which form the subject of the dispute had started at locations in Austria. As the locally competent court is not specified, the court of jurisdiction is to be determined by the ordination process. The OGH follows the suggestion of the plaintiff and specifies the Bezirkgericht of Leibnitz as the court of jurisdiction.