Audiencia Provincial de Pontevedra, Sección 1ª, auto de 24/09/2009 153/2009
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:ES:APPO:2009:501A
Date: 2009-09-24
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Spain

82009ES0924(52)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE SUMMARY
JURE SUMMARY
Pursuant to an international maritime transport of goods under a bill of lading, the insurer of the shipper filed an action before the Juzgado de lo Mercantil of Pontevedra (ES) against the Spanish consignee's agent, seeking indemnification for damages to the merchandise suffered during the transport. The defendant disputed the international jurisdiction of the Spanish courts on the basis of a jurisdiction clause inserted in the bill of lading. The court sustained the challenge and declined jurisdiction. The plaintiff appealed to the Audiencia Provincial of Pontevedra (ES) arguing, first, that the cited clause could not be held against it, as it was not a party to the contract, and second, that the clause was not valid because it did not indicate exactly on which courts it deigned to confer jurisdiction.
The Audiencia Provincial of Pontevedra (ES) denies the appeal. The clause affects both the insurer-plaintiff, for having subrogated to the rights and obligations of the insured who signed the bill of lading, as well as the consignee's agent-defendant, to whom the responsibility carried by the shipping company that signed the bill extends in accordance with the applicable law. Finally, the court finds that it is sufficient that the jurisdiction clause identifies the objective elements on which the parties had agreed to select the court or courts to which they wish to submit their disputes. In this case, it suffices that the parties agreed to submit to the courts of New York should the transport relate to the United States, and to the High Court of London (UK) in all other cases, including the instant case.