Oberster Gerichtshof; 2016-08-30; 4 Ob 120/16z
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:AT:OGH0002:2016:0040OB00120.16Z.0830.000
Date: 2016-08-30
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Austria

82016AT0830(52)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
A natural person resident in Austria (the "plaintiff") sought compensation from a bank in the United Kingdom (the "defendant"). The defendant’s illegal manipulation of the reference interest rate LIBOR caused him damage.
The jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance is based on Article 7 of the Brussels I Regulation (1), with respect to the plaintiff’s domicile and to where the plaintiff's bank accounts are established.
The Court of First Instance (Landesgericht für Zivilrechtssachen Wien) rejected the defendant’s plea of lack of international competence.
The Court of Appeal (Oberlandesgericht Wien) rejected the claim due to lack of international competence. Article 7(2) of the Brussels I Regulation is to be interpreted restrictively: the place where merely a consequential damage arose cannot be considered.
The plaintiff's appeal on points of law in the Oberster Gerichtshof (the "OGH") is admissible and also entitled.
Article 7(2) of the Brussels I Regulation also covers unfair competition and the infringement of intellectual property rights (2). For distance offences, the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union can be used to sue both at the place where harm occurred and at the place where harm arose.
The plaintiff bases his claim for damages on the defendant’s market influence that violated Union law. The place where harm arose is where the damage materialised, that is, at the damaged party’s residence.
The OGH followed the plaintiff’s appeal on points of law. The decision of the Court of Appeal was amended to restore the decision of the Court of First Instance.
(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, valid from 10.01.2015.
(²) Please, see decisions 4 Ob 2/12s and 2 Ob 222/14g.