Gerechtshof Arnhem-Leeuwarden; 2021-04-06; Caixa rural altea; 200.276.152
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:NL:GHARL:2021:3294
Date: 2021-04-06
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Netherlands

82021NL0406(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
ECLI:NL:GHARL:2021:3294, Gerechtshof Arnhem-Leeuwarden (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’), 6 April 2021
The Brussels I Regulation (recast) (1)
Following bankruptcy, a Spanish bank Caixa Rural Altea (hereinafter ‘Caixaltea’) cooperated with bankruptcy proceedings in selling a property in Spain. The property and the proceeds of the sale were subsequently excluded from the bankruptcy estate. The bankruptcy trustee sued the bank. According to the rechtbank Noord-Nederland (‘Court of First Instance’), the Dutch courts lacked jurisdiction to hear this claim. Conversely, the Court of Appeal held that the Dutch court did have jurisdiction.
5.8 The Court of Appeal observes that the trustee based the claim on Caixaltea action in bankruptcy proceedings of [B] and [C], which the trustee regards as unlawful. According to the trustee, [B] and [C] lacked the power to dispose of their property because of the bankruptcy declarations; therefore, Caixaltea should not have participated in delivering the holiday home without the trustee’s consent. The trustee’s claim is, therefore, very closely linked to the bankruptcy. Individual creditors themselves cannot bring the claim, nor can it be separated from the commencement of the bankruptcy proceedings. According to the Court of Appeal, this means that the trustee’s claim should not be regarded as a ‘Peeters/Gatzen claim’ arising from ordinary civil law but as a claim arising from bankruptcy law. Moreover, the trustee based his claims on Articles 23, 24, 53 and 54 of the FW (2). According to the introductory phrase of Article 1(2) and Article 1(2)(b) of the Brussels I Regulation (recast), the claim falls outside the scope of this Regulation. Instead, the jurisdiction of the Dutch should be assessed on the basis of Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 (3).
5.9 According to Article 3 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000, the Dutch court has jurisdiction to hear the trustee’s claim, as the insolvency proceedings were commenced in the Netherlands.
(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.
(2) Faillisementswet (Bankruptcy Act).
(3) Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 of 29 May 2000 on insolvency proceedings.