Oberster Gerichtshof, Urteil vom 30/06/2010 9 Ob A48/10i
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:AT:OGH0002:2010:009OBA00048.10I.0630.000
Date: 2010-06-30
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Austria

82010AT0630(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE SUMMARY
JURE SUMMARY
The Austrian claimant had concluded a written contract for the provision of services with the German defendant. Under the heading "Applicable Law", the contract contained the clause: "Construction, interpretation and enforcement of the following agreement shall occur according to Austrian law". The claimant sought payment of outstanding remuneration from the defendant in an action brought before the Landesgericht of Graz (AT). In order to establish jurisdiction, the claimant invoked the cited clause, which, it claimed, contained a choice of forum clause. The defendant challenged the international jurisdiction of the Austrian courts. The Landesgericht and, at second instance, the OLG of Graz (AT) held that they were lacking in jurisdiction and dismissed the action. The claimant lodged an appeal on a point of law to the OGH (AT).
The OGH upholds the decision of the prior instance. The contractual clause invoked by the claimant must be seen as an agreement on the applicable law. However, it may not be interpreted as a jurisdiction agreement within the meaning of Article 23 Brussels I Regulation. The requirements for the existence of a jurisdiction agreement are to be narrowly interpreted, since it must be ensured that they are not incorporated into contracts unnoticed. Therefore, particularly regarding the conclusion of a jurisdiction agreement, the will of the parties must be clearly and precisely expressed. The text of the contract concluded by the parties refers merely to the applicability of substantive and formal Austrian law. Due to the requirement that a jurisdiction agreement must clearly and precisely arise out of the contract, such an agreement may not be found by way of supplementary interpretation of the contract.