Rechtbank Utrecht, uitspraak van 05/11/2008 251233 / HA ZA 08-1348
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:NL:RBUTR:2008:BG3481
Date: 2008-11-05
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Netherlands

82008NL1105(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE SUMMARY
JURE SUMMARY
The plaintiff, domiciled in the Netherlands, delivered glass to the defendant, domiciled in Aruba (Dutch Antilles). It brought action before the Rechtbank of Utrecht (NL) for payment of outstanding debts and cited the jurisdiction clause in its general terms and conditions of business. It claimed that it always referred to the general terms and conditions of business printed on the back of her letterhead. Moreover, the jurisdiction clause is printed at the foot of its letterhead. The plaintiff produced proposals and order confirmations printed on its letterhead. The defendant contested the jurisdiction of the court, and added that the parties maintained contact with each other per telephone and fax, and it had not received any written proposals or order confirmations from the plaintiff.
The Rechtbank of Utrecht (NL) finds that Aruba and the Netherlands are Contracting States of the Brussels Convention. For a valid jurisdiction agreement pursuant to Article 17 of the Brussels Convention, it is neither sufficient to print a notice of general terms and conditions of business on the reverse side of one's letterhead, nor even to print the jurisdiction clause itself at the foot of the letterhead. No consensus could be derived from this patently unilateral act. However, insofar as the plaintiff extended a written offer on the aforementioned letterhead, it may be assumed that the defendant, by exercising due diligence in reading the offer, would learn of the inclusion of the general terms and conditions of business and could take note of the jurisdiction clause. The defendant has only raised blanket and therefore insufficient objections to the admission of the written offers into evidence. The orders of the defendants are to be viewed as constituting acceptance of the offer, including the jurisidiction clause contained therein. The Rechtbank declares itself as having jurisdiction.