Oberster Gerichtshof, Urteil vom 16/11/1999 5 Nd 517/99
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:AT:OGH0002:1999:RS0112614
Date: 1999-11-16
Subject matter: Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968
Origin: Austria

81999AT1116(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE SUMMARY
JURE SUMMARY
The plaintiff, a doctor domiciled in Austria, booked a holiday in the Maldives with the defendant domiciled in Germany, through an Austrian travel agency. The holiday included a flight, board and lodging. An advertisement catalogue of the defendant distributed in Austria had drawn the attention of the plaintiff on this trip. He was injured when a rotten rung leading from his bungalow to the sea broke. The plaintiff sued the defendant in an Austrian court for damages. He based the jurisdiction of the Austrian courts on Article 14(1) in connection with Article 13(1)(3) and (2) Lugano Convention.
The OGH (AT) considers that in this case the Brussels Convention applies. The question arises whether a proceeding “concerning a contract” in the sense of Article 13(1) Brussels Convention is at hand. According to the court, this shall be affirmed. This concept, which is to be interpreted autonomously, corresponds in essence to the concept of “matters relating to a contract” used in Article 5(1) Brussels Convention. Accordingly, it also includes rights for compensation resulting from the breaches of a contract.