Oberster Gerichtshof; 2019-01-15; 3 Nc 25/18h
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:AT:OGH0002:2019:0030NC00025.18H.0115.000
Date: 2019-01-15
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters;Lugano Convention
Origin: Austria

82019AT0115(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
The case concerns a claim for reimbursement of EUR 1991.58 between the consumer (hereinafter ‘the plaintiff’) residing in the jurisdiction of the Bezirksgericht Wels (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) and a public limited company (hereinafter ‘the defendant’) based in Switzerland. Through the defendant’s internet platform, the plaintiff had purchased and paid for tickets which were never delivered to him.
The plaintiff requested the appointment of jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance as the locally competent court, asserting international jurisdiction under Article 14 of the Lugano Convention (1) as a consumer, since the defendant aligned its activities in Austria.
The Oberster Gerichtshof (hereinafter ‘the Supreme Court’) ruled that the request for appointment of jurisdiction was not justified and that it was a consumer matter under Section 4 of the New Lugano Convention (2). While Article 14 of the Lugano Convention regulated international jurisdiction only, Article 16 of the New Lugano Convention provides the consumer with an electoral court at his place of residence and regulates local jurisdiction in that regard. The Supreme Court rejected the plaintiff’s request for appointment of jurisdiction as being unfounded because there was a competent court at his place of residence in Austria.
(1) Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters — Done at Lugano on 16 September 1988 (88/592/EEC).
(2) Convention on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (2007).