Gerechtshof Arnhem-Leeuwarden; 2024-01-09; Appellant; 200.325.663
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:NL:GHARL:2024:173
Date: 2024-01-09
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Netherlands

82024NL0109(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
ECLI:NL:GHARL:2024:173, 9 January 2024, Gerechtshof Arnhem-Leeuwarden (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’)
European Union legislation: Articles 4 and 7 of the Brussels I Regulation (recast) (1)
European Union case law: C-59/19 (2)
Dutch case law: ECLI:NL:HR:2019:566
The plaintiff claims to have bought a car from the company ICL. The car was seized by the defendant, who is the trustee of ICL. The plaintiff sought a declaratory judgment that he was the owner of the car and the return of the car. The Court of First Instance declared that it lacked jurisdiction. The plaintiff appealed against the declaration of lack of jurisdiction without submitting any grounds. The Court of Appeal reviewed the jurisdiction of its motion.
The general rule of jurisdiction is that a defendant domiciled in a Member State shall be sued in the courts of that Member State (Article 4 of the Brussels I Regulation (recast)). In matters relating to tort, the courts of another Member State may also have jurisdiction to hear the dispute (Article 7, introductory sentence and Article 7(2)).
The plaintiff had not produced any documents from which it may be inferred that the car was sold and delivered to him lawfully.
It follows from the foregoing that, having regard to the restrictive interpretation to be given to the concept of tort under the Brussels I Regulation (recast), it cannot be said that the assessment of the tort can be viewed separately from the interpretation of the legal relationship or the agreement between the parties. Therefore, the dispute does not qualify as a purely tortious claim within the Brussels I Regulation (recast) meaning. It is concluded that the Dutch court does not have jurisdiction.
(1) Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (recast).
(2) Judgment of the Court of Justice of 24 November 2020, Wikingerhof GmbH & Co. KG v Booking.com BV, C-59/19, ECLI:EU:C:2020:950.