Oberster Gerichtshof, Urteil vom 11/10/2007 8 Nc 15/07h
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:AT:OGH0002:2007:0080NC00015.07H.1011.000
Date: 2007-10-11
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Austria

82007AT1011(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE SUMMARY
JURE SUMMARY
The applicant, domiciled in Austria, sought significant damages from the respondent, a Czech bank, having its seat in the Czech Republic. In foregoing proceedings, it had been established with legally binding effect that the Austrian courts lacked international jurisdiction over the claim. The applicant applied to the OGH (AT) for a determination of local jurisdiction by way of a so-called ordination. He asserted that according to Austrian law of civil procedure, an ordination had to be made where the plaintiff is an Austrian citizen or where he has his domicile, habitual residence, or seat within Austria, and where in a given case, the prosecution abroad is impossible or unreasonable. The plaintiff alleged that this applied to his proceedings. He stated that the Czech bank belonged to the government sector in the Czech Republic. Thus, if proceedings were instituted there, an impartial judgment or a foreseeable duration of the proceedings could not be expected. According to the plaintiff, despite of the accession of the Czech Republic to the EU, the government still unabatedly influences proceedings where a self-interest is at stake.
The OGH (AT) dismisses the application for an ordination. It holds that with regards to a Member State of the Brussels I Regulation, an ordination on the ground of impossibility or unreasonableness is generally out of the question. In the scope of the Brussels I Regulation the latter's provisions supersede national jurisdiction provisions. The allegation that a EU Member State offers poor legal protection is not apt to prove the unreasonableness of legal prosecution within the meaning of the provisions of national Austrian law of civil procedure.