AG Niebüll; 2022-07-27; 10 C 14/22
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:DE:AGNIEBU:2022:0727.10C14.22.00
Date: 2022-07-27
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Germany

82022DE0727(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
The insolvency administrator for the assets of an insolvency debtor (hereinafter ‘the plaintiff’) made a claim against an EU foreign national (hereinafter ‘the defendant’) for the return of a limited partnership contribution.
The defendant is a limited partner of the insolvency debtor and originally assumed a contribution obligation of EUR 15 000, which was later reduced to EUR 10 032.71. The defendant was unsuccessfully requested to pay the claims existing against the insolvency debtor in accordance with the insolvency schedule.
The plaintiff claimed that the Amtsgericht Niebüll (hereinafter 'the Court of First Instance') had international and local jurisdiction pursuant to Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 (1). The present dispute is an ancillary dispute which falls within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000.
The defendant contests the jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance.
The Court of First Instance dismissed the action as inadmissible. The scope of Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 must not be interpreted broadly according to its recital. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that only actions arising directly from insolvency proceedings and ones closely connected to them are excluded from the scope of the Brussels I Regulation (2) and therefore fall within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000. That is not the case here. The international jurisdiction of the courts is governed by the Brussels I Regulation.
There is no dispute under bankruptcy or insolvency law. The plaintiff bases his claim on Article 171(1) and (2) and Article 172 of the HGB (3). The limited partner's right to liability up to the amount of the contribution, to which the company's creditors are otherwise entitled, is exercised by the insolvency administrator or the trustee as part of insolvency proceedings. Therefore, the limited partner's right to liability could have been asserted by the creditors in the same way without the opening of insolvency proceedings.
(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 of 29 May 2000 on insolvency proceedings.
(2) Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.
(3) Handelsgesetzbuch (Commercial Code).