Gerechtshof 's-Hertogenbosch; 2015-05-26; Magnetics; C&F Tooling; 200.133.710/01
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:NL:GHSHE:2015:1898
Date: 2015-05-26
Subject matter: Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968
Origin: Netherlands

82015NL0526(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
This civil case concerns a civil dispute in the area of the international sale of goods between Magnetics, a Dutch seller of magnets and magnetic products, as the plaintiff, and C&F, a buyer based in Ireland, as the defendant, regarding the delivery of magnets. According to the plaintiff, a part of a delivery remained unpaid.
The plaintiff claimed the jurisdiction of the rechtbank (Dutch district court) referring to the text of General conditions attached to the order, according to which, disputes are to be adjudged by the competent court of the place where the plaintiff has its registered office.
However, the rechtbank decided in favour of the Irish buyer. The Rechtbank held, based on the general provisions laid down in Article 2 of the Brussels I Regulation (1), that it is not the Dutch court that has jurisdiction in this case, but conversely, that the Irish court is competent.
Following the judgment of the rechtbank, the Dutch seller appealed to the Gerechtshof (Court of Appeal) in the Netherlands. According to the Gerechtshof, the choice of jurisdiction - as defined by the seller and stated in its General conditions - cannot be regarded as an agreement conferring jurisdiction in the sense of Article 23 of the Brussels I Regulation. The Court of Appeal considered also the provisions of Article 5(1) of the Brussels I Regulation, according to which a person may be sued, in matters relating to a contract, in the courts of the place of performance of the obligation in question. It also indicates no jurisdiction of the Dutch courts. Therefore, the jurisdiction of Irish courts, based on the general Article 2 of the Brussels I Regulation, was confirmed.
The Gerechtshof upheld the judgment of the rechtbank.
(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.