BGH; 2018-11-13; VI ZR 71/18
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:DE:BGH:2018:131118BVIZR71.18.0
Date: 2018-11-13
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Germany

82018DE1113(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
If the courts of another Member State may affirm their jurisdiction in the same proceedings pursuant to Article 6(1) of the Brussels I Regulation (1), a court in Germany (in another Member State), as the State where recognition is sought, may not be prevented from affirming its jurisdiction pursuant to this provision. This applies in spite of the fact that this court denied its international jurisdiction for the legally binding preliminary decisions on the basis of Article 5(3).
The rules of jurisdiction must be predictable and founded on the principle that the jurisdiction is generally based on the defendant’s domicile. However, in addition to the place of jurisdiction of the defendant’s domicile, there should be alternative places of jurisdiction which are admissible owing to a close connection between the court and the action or because they would facilitate the sound administration of justice.
The purpose of this is to avoid parallel proceedings which concern the same case with the same parties and may result in irreconcilable judgements.
A plaintiff may rely on Article 6(1) of the Brussels I Regulation even when the claim is regarded under a national provision as inadmissible from the time it is brought in relation to the defendant.
In the German preliminary proceedings before the Landgericht Duisburg and Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’), the jurisdiction was neither invoked nor examined pursuant to Article 6(1) of the Brussels I Regulation.
The first defendant’s appeal against the judgement of the Court of Appeal was dismissed by the Bundesgerichtshof (Supreme Court).
(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.