Višje sodišče v Kopru; 2020-08-28; Cpg 82/2020
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:SI:VSKP:2020:CPG.82.2020
Date: 2020-08-28
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Slovenia

82020SI0828(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
This case regards a question of international jurisdiction in a dispute concerning an international shipment of goods, which the Višje sodišče v Kopru resolved (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’)
A company domiciled in Romania (hereinafter ‘the plaintiff’) brought a case before the Okrožno sodišče v Kopru (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) against a shipping company domiciled in France (hereinafter ‘the defendant’) for the payment of EUR 24 938,86 as a result of a contract of carriage.
The Court of First Instance declared a lack of its jurisdiction in favour of the French courts. The court ascertained that the goods were delivered to Koper. The defendant issued a bill of lading, which contained a clause conferring jurisdiction on the courts of France in respect of all disputes arising out of that contract of carriage. The bill of lading was signed by the defendant and the consignor of the goods. The main question to resolve was whether such a document also applies to the plaintiff as the recipient of the goods, even if it was not directly signed by the plaintiff. As the Court of First Instance explained, a bill of lading, being a security, gives rise to certain rights and obligations, which are transferred to the lawful holder of the bill of lading at the time of its execution. In the present case, it was sufficiently proven that the plaintiff was acknowledged of the bill of lading and had its copy. In such a case, the bill of lading also binds the plaintiff as a beneficiary of the shipment. As the document was agreed in writing and standard form, the requirements laid down by Article 25 of the Brussels I Regulation (recast) (1) were met. The agreement conferring jurisdiction in favour of the French courts was therefore held valid.
The plaintiff appealed to the Court of Appeal, alleging an infringement of procedural rules, erroneous acceptation of the defendant’s objection against the jurisdiction and wrongful assessment of the binding character of the bill of lading. After examining the case's materials, the Court of Appeal upheld all first instance conclusions and found no violations of procedural rights. It also confirms the obligatory character of the bill of lading. The existence of the bill of lading was not disputed at the time the action was brought. Moreover, the plaintiff acknowledged the bill of lading directly in its application.
The appeal was dismissed, and the lack of jurisdiction of the Slovenian courts was confirmed.
(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.