Oberster Gerichtshof; 2018-12-19; 3 Ob 177/18b
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:AT:OGH0002:2018:0030OB00177.18B.1219.000
Date: 2018-12-19
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Austria

82018AT1219(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
A transport company based in Austria (hereinafter 'the plaintiff') sought damages from an Austrian distributor (hereinafter ‘the first defendant’) and from a German automotive supplier (hereinafter ‘the second defendant’). At the plaintiff’s place of business, in the plaintiff’s lorry, the first defendant had installed an oil cooler, supplied by the second defendant, which was defective and caused engine failure.
The Landesgericht Wels (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance'), in whose jurisdiction the first defendant is based, and the Oberlandesgericht Linz (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’), both dismissed the case against the second defendant.
The plaintiff based the extraordinary appeal on points of law in the Oberster Gerichtshof der Republik Österreich (hereinafter ‘the Supreme Court’) on the allegation that the Court of Appeal overlooked the fact that the second defendant argued the international incompetence, but not the local incompetence. For this reason, jurisdiction is founded on the defendant’s entering the appearance uncontested under Article 26(1) of the Brussels I Regulation – recast (1).
The second defendant has disputed neither the local jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance (Article 7(2) of the Brussels I Regulation – recast) nor the international jurisdiction of Austrian courts. However, it called into question the jurisdiction of that court because of the lack of a suitable point of connection under the stipulations of the Brussels I Regulation – recast and sought rejection on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction that has not been specified further. The Court of Appeal correctly assessed that.
The Supreme Court rejected the plaintiff's extraordinary appeal on points of law.
(1) Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.