AG Mettmann; 2019-10-01; 25 C 77/19
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:DE:AGME1:2019:1001.25C77.19.00
Date: 2019-10-01
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Germany

82019DE1001(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
The insurance company which provided liability insurance to a tractor unit with a Romanian licence plate (hereinafter ‘the plaintiff’) filed an action against an insurance company (hereinafter ‘the defendant’) which provided liability insurance to a semi-trailer with an Austrian licence plate seeking an internal settlement on the basis of a recourse claim.
Both vehicles connected were involved in an incident where a properly parked third-party car had been damaged without any fault on the part of the owner of this car. After compensating the owner of the damaged car in full, the plaintiff requested that the defendant settle half of the incurred costs to the plaintiff. The defendant refused to comply with this request.
Under Article 12(1) of the Brussels I Regulation (recast) (1), the court holding the international and local jurisdiction was the Amtsgericht Mettmann (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’). The internal settlement between the parties as joint debtors towards the owner of the damaged car was subject to German law. In addition, the preconditions of Article 20 of the Rome II Regulation (2) had been met. Both parties were liable for the respective claim. It was necessary for both the tractor unit and the semi-trailer to have valid liability insurance for the damage caused to third parties.
The recourse claim was to be settled not under contractual but tortious laws and regulations.
The Court of First Instance ordered the defendant to pay the plaintiff half of the compensation settled including interest.
(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) Regulation (EC) No 864/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 July 2007 on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations (Rome II).