Oberster Gerichtshof, Beschluß vom 28/08/1997 # 3 Nd 506/97
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:AT:OGH0002:1997:0030ND00506.97.0828.000
Date: 1997-08-28
Based on: Provisional data
Subject matter: Lugano Convention
Origin: Austria

81997AT0828(03)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE SUMMARY
JURE SUMMARY
The plaintiff, domiciled in Austria, claims from the defendant, her father living in Switzerland, the provision of a notable amount as dowry before an Austrian court. The OGH (AT) is requested to determine the competent court.
The OGH (AT) interprets the concept of maintenance obligation, in the sense of Article 5(2) Lugano Convention, autonomously. According to it, this concept not only covers the rights for recurring payments, but also a unique redundancy payment, since the function of the claim is to enable the beneficiary to pay for his cost of living. This broad concept of maintenance is also found in the Hague Convention of 1973 on maintenance obligations which interpretation can be consulted in parallel. Thus it depends on determining if according to the applicable Austrian law, one shall assimilate the payment of a dowry to a maintenance obligation. This shall be affirmed since they are not matrimonial rights, in spite of the position of the rule in Austrian law, but family rights which are rights for maintenance. The Austrian court is thus directly competent according to Article 5(2) Lugano Convention, so that the jurisdiction of any other court does not have to be determined.