Judecătoria Cluj-Napoca; 2015-09-25; BOGOS ILEANA CEZARIANA, reclamant, şi ALTER&KNOCH - AVOCATI SI NOTARI , pârât, şi WELLNER IULIANA ANA , pârât ; 9132/211/2015
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:RO:TBCLJ:2016:013.000186
Date: 2015-09-25
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Romania

82015RO0925(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
This case regards an objection of lack of international jurisdiction examined by the Judecătoria Cluj-Napoca (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’).
A plaintiff domiciled in Romania brought an action before the Court of First Instance seeking an order directing the defendants domiciled in Germany to disclose to the plaintiff specific notarial deeds issued in Germany.
One of the defendants objected to the jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance, citing Article 2(1) of the Brussels I Regulation (1), according to which ‘persons domiciled in a Member State shall, whatever their nationality, be sued in the courts of that Member State’.
The Court of First Instance noted that the Brussels I Regulation was replaced by the Brussels I Regulation (recast) (2). However, Article 4 of the latter Regulation provides the same wording as Article 2(1) of the Brussels I Regulation cited by the defendant. Article 5(1) of the Brussels I Regulation (recast) then provides that ‘persons domiciled in a Member State may be sued in the courts of another Member State only by virtue of the rules set out in Sections 2 to 7 of this Chapter’. The Court of First Instance held that, in the present case, no circumstances justify the exception to the general rule set forth in Article 4 of the Brussels I Regulation (recast).
Therefore, in this case, the jurisdiction lies with the courts of the defendants’ domicile, i.e., with the German courts. This principle is also supported by provisions of national law (particularly C.pr.civ. (3)). The plaintiff did not provide any supportive arguments justifying the jurisdiction of the Romanian courts (e.g., the special connection of the case to Romania or any reason why it was impossible to bring the case before the German courts).
Therefore, the Court of First Instance upheld the defendant's objection, declared a lack of jurisdiction of the Romanian courts to hear the claim and dismissed the case.
(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.
(2) 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.
(3) Codul de procedură civilă (Code of Civil Procedure).