Višje sodišče v Ljubljani; 2016-12-07; I Cpg 1346/2016
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:SI:VSLJ:2016:I.CPG.1346.2016
Date: 2016-12-07
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters;Lugano Convention
Origin: Slovenia

82016SI1207(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
This case regards a dispute brought by a Slovenian company (hereinafter ‘the plaintiff’) against a company domiciled in Switzerland (hereinafter ‘the defendant’). The parties entered into a Cooperation Agreement, which was terminated in April 2013. As part of the agreement, a jurisdiction clause in favour of the Swiss courts was concluded. In September 2013, bankruptcy proceedings against plaintiff were initiated. The plaintiff sought financial compensation for damage caused by the termination of the agreement.
The Okrožno sodišče v Ljubljani (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) declared the lack of jurisdiction of the Slovenian courts.
The plaintiff appealed to the Višje sodišče v Ljubljani (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’), claiming the need of its protection by the Slovenian courts as the bankruptcy proceedings being pursued abroad would have a negative effect on its Slovenian creditors.
The Court of Appeal cited Article 23 of the new Lugano Convention (1), according to which 'if the parties … have agreed that a court or the courts of a State bound by this Convention are to have jurisdiction to settle any disputes which have arisen or which may arise in connection with a particular legal relationship, that court or those courts shall have jurisdiction’. It is true that by virtue of Article 1(2)(b) ‘the Convention shall not apply to bankruptcy’, however, the action sought compensation for the termination of an agreement, which happened five months before the bankruptcy proceedings were initiated. The Court of Appeal, referring to the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-113/78 (2), held the current proceeding as not being related to the bankruptcy.
The jurisdiction clause contained in the Cooperation Agreement was held valid, the appeal was dismissed, and the first instance decision was upheld.
(1) Convention on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.
(2) Judgment of the Court of Justice of 22 February 1979, Henri Gourdain v Franz Nadler, C-133/78, ECLI:EU:C:1979:49.