Oberster Gerichtshof; 2014-02-26; A.K.; P., AG; 7 Ob 19/14s
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:AT:OGH0002:2014:0070OB00019.14S.0226.000
Date: 2014-02-26
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Austria

82014AT0226(52)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
A minor from Austria (the “plaintiff”) sued a public limited company from Germany (the “defendant”) for damages he suffered from falling while riding a bike in Germany due to the bike’s malfunction. The jurisdiction of the Austrian Court was given within the meaning of Article 5(3) of the Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 from 22. December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters ("Brussels I Regulation”) (citation: “a person domiciled in a Member State may, in another Member State, be sued in matters relating to tort, delict or quasi-delict, in the courts for the place where the harmful event occurred or may occur”) because the bike was put into circulation in Austria. The plaintiff bought the bike from a dealer in Austria. The defendant denied the international jurisdiction of the Austrian courts with the argument, it had their seat in Germany, where the harm occurred, too. First the manufacture was in Germany and second the bike was put into circulation by shipping from the headquarters in Germany. The Court of First Instance (Landgericht Linz) dismissed the action due to lack of international competence. The appeals court (Oberlandesgericht Linz) confirmed this decision. With product liability, the place where the harm occurred is the place where the product was produced. The plaintiff appealed for a second time, this time against the appeals court’s decision.
The Oberster Gerichtshof (Supreme Court of Justice of Austria, hereinafter the “Supreme Court”) decided that the second appeal is admissible, though not entitled.
The Supreme Court has presented to the European Court of Justice the question of jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings (see decision 7 Ob 187/12v) on the occasion of the proceedings of the second appeal. The European Court of Justice responded in its decision Rs C-45/13 as follows: With product liability of the manufacturer for a defective product, the jurisdiction is with the courts of the place where the product was produced (place of the event that caused the damage).
The Supreme Court dismissed the plaintiff’s second appeal and upheld the dismissals of the actions by the Court of First Instance and the appeals court (Landesgericht and Oberlandesgericht Wien, respectively) due to the lack of domestic jurisdiction.