Kantongerecht Hilversum, vonnis van 02/09/1992  # De Rijk / APV plc
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:NL:KTGHIL:1992:AB8080
Date: 1992-09-02
Based on: Provisional data
Subject matter: Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968
Origin: Netherlands

81992NL0902(02)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE SUMMARY
JURE SUMMARY
The plaintiff, a person domiciled in the Netherlands, concluded a contract of employment with the defendant, a British company. The plaintiff brings a claim concerning pension rights. The defendant disputes the jurisdiction of the Kantongerecht Hilversum (NL).
The Kantongerecht states that if the claim is to be characterised as one arising out of a contract of employment, Article 5 Brussels Convention is in principle applicable, granting jurisdiction to the Court of the place where the work is habitually carried out. The Kantongerecht concludes, however, that Article 5 is not applicable in this case because the work was habitually carried out in Switzerland; Switzerland is not a Contracting State of the Brussels Convention. In such a case, the main rule of Article 2 is to be applied. However, the plaintiff argues that the claim is not based on the contract of employment but on the pension agreement between the parties, which must be carried out in the Netherlands. The Kantongerecht rejects this argument and considers that the claim of the plaintiff is, for the application of the Brussels Convention, to be regarded as a claim arising out of the contract of employment since the pension agreement was concluded within the framework thereof. A contract of employment is characterised to such an extend by one specific obligation, the obligation of the employee to carry out his work, that this obligation is decisive for the jurisdiction in respect of all obligations resulting from the employment contract. The Kantongerecht denies jurisdiction.