Oberster Gerichtshof, Urteil vom 20/01/2004 4 Ob 252/03t
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:AT:OGH0002:2004:RS0118503
Date: 2004-01-20
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Austria

82004AT0120(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE SUMMARY
JURE SUMMARY
In previous German proceedings regarding a dispute concerning the loss of a cargo during transport, the plaintiff received a third party notice from the party that lost in that action. The plaintiff then issued a third party notice to the defendant, who did not however enter into the proceedings. In the current proceedings, the plaintiff claims payment from the defendant, the defendant being bound by the result of the previous proceedings to which he was invited and according to which he lost cargo during his custody. The court of first instance dismissed the claim, despite the binding force of the previous proceedings. The court of appeal affirmed the binding effect, but rejected the judgment rendered in first instance.
The OGH (AT) finds, firstly, that any individual domiciled in another Contracting State can, without additional requirements pursuant to Article 6(2) and Article 65 Brussels I Regulation, be informed of the dispute by way of third party notice. The effect of the third party notice, according to Article 65 (2) Brussels I Regulation, also extends to persons who did not enter into the proceedings. Since the judgement of a foreign court has internal effects according to national jurisdiction, the binding effect resulting from a third party notice before a German court during a subsequent trial also applies to the defendant, as addressee of the third party notice. This results from the effect of the third party notice under German Law and the fundamental guarantee of recognition of the judgement in which the third party notice appears, according to Article 33 (1) Brussels I Regulation.