BGH; 2022-05-19; IX ZB 58/20
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:DE:BGH:2022:190522BIXZB58.20.0
Date: 2022-05-19
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Germany

82022DE0519(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
A plaintiff applied with the Landgericht Braunschweig (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) for the refusal to enforce a decision made by an Italian court (hereinafter the ‘Italian decision’).
The Italian decision ordered the plaintiff to hand over bacterial strains deposited in the Leibniz-Institut to the counterparty.
The Court of First Instance dismissed the application of the plaintiff. The appeal against this decision lodged by the plaintiff with the Oberlandesgericht Braunschweig (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’) was unsuccessful.
The plaintiff pursued his case further by filing a revision with the Bundesgerichtshof (hereinafter ‘the Supreme Court’), requesting the refusal of enforcement.
Article 46 of the Brussels I Regulation (recast) (1) states that the enforcement of a judgment shall be refused if one of the grounds referred to in Article 45 of the Brussels I Regulation (recast) exists.
The Court of Appeal correctly stated that no such ground existed in the case. Contrary to the opinion of the plaintiff, the enforcement of the Italian decision did not violate German public policy (ordre public). The plaintiff failed to present any arguments as to the alleged breach of German public policy (ordre public).
The Supreme Court dismissed the revision of the plaintiff against the decision of the Court of Appeal, citing its inadmissibility.
(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.