Oberster Gerichtshof; 2019-01-25; 8 Ob 154/18g
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:AT:OGH0002:2019:0080OB00154.18G.0125.000
Date: 2019-01-25
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Austria

82019AT0125(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
The case concerns the action of an Austrian-based investor (hereinafter 'the plaintiff') brought in the Handelsgericht Wien (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) for liability arising from tort against a bank based in London with a branch in Germany (hereinafter ‘the defendant’).
The defendant is the issuer of a certificate in which the plaintiff invested. The plaintiff makes contractual claims and seeks reimbursement of EUR 14_219.26. On the basis of misleading prospectus information, she makes tortious claims for damages from the title of the issuer's prospectus liability.
The plaintiff based the international competence of the Court of First Instance on Article 15 and, alternatively, Article 5(3) of the Brussels I Regulation (1). The defendant argued the international incompetence of the Court of First Instance.
The Court of First Instance declared its international incompetence for the contractual and tortious claims and dismissed the action.
The plaintiff appealed in the Oberlandesgericht Wien (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’). The Court of Appeal did not comply with her appeal and confirmed the decision of the Court of First Instance.
The plaintiff lodged an appeal on points of law in the Oberster Gerichtshof (hereinafter ‘the Supreme Court’). The Supreme Court had dealt with comparable lawsuits on a number of occasions. Based on the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-304/17 (2), the Supreme Court rejected the objection of lack of international competence and ruled that the Court of First Instance was internationally competent for the tortious claims under Article 5(3) of the Brussels I Regulation and must conduct the legal procedure over these claims. With regard to the contractual claims asserted, the dismissal of the action was confirmed.
(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.
(2) Judgment of the Court of Justice of 12 September 2018, Helga Löber v Barclays Bank PLC, C‑304/17, ECLI:EU:C:2018:701.