Oberster Gerichtshof; 2015-07-15; M.; P.; 3 Ob 124/15d
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:AT:OGH0002:2015:0030OB00124.15D.0715.000
Date: 2015-07-15
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Austria

82015AT0715(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
The tenant of business premises in Vienna (the "plaintiff") sought damages from the premises' owner and lessor (the "defendant").
The Court of First Instance dismissed the action due to the lack of international competence.
The Court of Appeal (Landesgericht für Zivilrechtssachen Wien) rejected the defendant's plea of lack of international competence of the Austrian court. For disputes relating to rent or lease of an immovable object, the court of that Member State is competent in whose territory the immovable object is.
The basis for this decision are Article 22(1) of the Brussels I Regulation (1) and Article 24(1) of the Brussels Ia Regulation (2).
By an extraordinary appeal in the Oberster Gerichtshof ("OGH"), the defendant sought recovery of the Court of First Instance's dismissal of the action.
According to the OGH, Article 22(1) of the Brussels I Regulation establishes an internationally exclusive jurisdiction, i.e. in the case of immovable property rights, only the courts of the Member State in which the immovable object is located are competent. There is case law concerning this matter.
In the absence of a significant legal question in accordance with Article 528(1) of ZPO (3) the OGH rejected the defendant's extraordinary appeal on points of law.
(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, in the version valid until 09.01.2015.(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, effective from 10.01.2015.(3) Gesetz Nr. 113/1895 über das gerichtliche Verfahren in bürgerlichen Rechtsstreitigkeiten (Zivilprozessordnung).