Oberster Gerichtshof; 2018-04-26; 6 Ob 3/18m
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:AT:OGH0002:2018:0060OB00003.18M.0426.000
Date: 2018-04-26
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Austria

82018AT0426(52)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
The case concerns an action brought before the Landesgericht Krems an der Donau by a company domiciled in Slovakia (hereinafter ‘the plaintiff’) against a number of defendants domiciled in Austria and Slovakia respectively (hereinafter ‘the defendants’), regarding liability for damage allegedly caused by them, as members of the creditor's committee, due to the rejection of a restructuring plan of a Slovakian company during insolvency proceedings. The plaintiff was the creditor of the insolvent company.
After the Court of Appeal dismissed the action for a lack of jurisdiction, the plaintiff appealed to the Obersten Gerichtshof in Vienna (hereinafter ‘the Supreme Court’). The stayed appeal procedure could only be continued after the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Case C-649/16 (1), in which the interpretation of Article 1(2)(b) of the Brussels I Regulation (recast) (2) was ruled upon, in relation to a similar procedure against the defendants. The CJEU ruled that ‘such an action was excluded from the scope of the regulation under Article 1(2)(b) of the Regulation’. The Supreme Court rejected the appeal, stating that the exclusive international jurisdiction of the Member State initiating the insolvency proceedings (Slovakia) was to be based on Article 1(2)(b) of the Brussels I Regulation (recast) and Article 3(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 (3) of 29 May 2000 on insolvency proceedings.
(1) Judgment of the Court of 20 December 2017, Peter Valach and Others v Waldviertler Sparkasse Bank AG and Others, C-649/16, ECLI: EU:C:2017:986, paragraph 21.
(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.
(3) Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 of 29 May 2000 on insolvency proceedings.