Oberster Gerichtshof, Urteil vom 05/02/1999 4 Nd 501/99
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:AT:OGH0002:1999:RS0111522
Date: 1999-02-05
Subject matter: Lugano Convention
Origin: Austria

81999AT0205(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE SUMMARY
JURE SUMMARY
The plaintiff, domiciled in Austria, had booked a package boat trip from the defendant, a company having its seat in Germany. He commenced proceedings before the court at his domicile seeking damages for certain deficiencies of the trip. The defendant challenged the jurisdiction of the Austrian courts. The plaintiff applied to the OGH (AT) for a so-called ordination, i.e. a determination of the court having local jurisdiction.
The OGH (AT) holds that a contract for a package holiday constitutes a consumer contract within the meaning of Article 13 Lugano Convention. A contract for a package holiday is characterised by a combination of various individual services. By qualifying it as consumer contract, a separation of the various segments of the contractual relationship and thus a dispersion of jurisdiction is avoided in view of the jurisdiction provisions within the Lugano Convention. Such a dispersion has to be avoided categorically in matters relating to consumer contracts. Furthermore, the remaining prerequisites of Article 13(1) (3) Lugano Convention for the determination of a consumer contract are also fulfilled in this case. In particular, the defendant had advertised the holidays it marketed in the State of the plaintiff's domicile; moreover, the contract was concluded by the plaintiff in Austria. As the Austrian courts have international jurisdiction according to Article 14(1) Lugano Convention but no court having local jurisdiction has been determined according to Austrian law of civil procedure, the plaintiff's application for an ordination in order to determine the court having local jurisdiction is justified.