CELEX: C2004/021/12
Language: en
Date: 2004-01-24 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court of 9 December 2003 in Case C-116/02 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Oberlandesgericht Innsbruck): Erich Gasser GmbH v MISAT Srl (Brussels Convention — Article 21 — Lis pendens — Article 17 — Agreement conferring jurisdiction — Obligation to stay proceedings of court second seised designated in an agreement conferring jurisdiction — Excessive duration of proceedings before courts in the Member State of the court first seised)

24.1.2004                 EN                         Official Journal of the European Union                                                  C 21/7
2.    The principle of non-discrimination laid down by Article 7(4)          Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom
      of Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 of the Council of 15 October            of Sweden (OJ 1997 C 15, p. 1), the Court, composed
      1968 on freedom of movement for workers within the                     of: V. Skouris, President, P. Jann, C. W. A. Timmermans,
      Community does not preclude a person carrying on an activity           C. Gulmann, J. N. Cunha Rodrigues and A. Rosas (Presidents
      as a post-graduate student, such as the person in the main             of Chambers), D.A.O. Edward, A. La Pergola, J.-P. Puissochet,
      proceedings, from being deemed, in a Member State, to be a             R. Schintgen (Rapporteur), F. Macken, N. Colneric and S. von
      trainee fellowship student who is not entitled to any rights           Bahr, Judges; P. Léger, Advocate General; M.-F. Contet, Princi-
      under the national system of unemployment benefits, even               pal Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment on
      though in other Member States a person carrying on similar             9 December 2003, in which it has ruled:
      activities is deemed to be carrying on an occupational activity
      and is entitled to benefits under the unemployment benefits
      system.
                                                                             1.   A national court may, under the Protocol of 3 June 1971 on
(1) OJ C 118 of 18.5.2002.                                                        the interpretation by the Court of Justice of the Convention of
                                                                                  27 September 1968 on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of
                                                                                  Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters, as amended by
                                                                                  the Convention of 9 October 1978 on the accession of the
                                                                                  Kingdom of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom of
                                                                                  Great Britain and Northern Ireland, by the Convention of
                                                                                  25 October 1982 on the accession of the Hellenic Republic, by
                   JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                          the Convention of 26 May 1989 on the accession of the
                                                                                  Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic and by the
                                                                                  Convention of 29 November 1996 on the accession of the
                         of 9 December 2003                                       Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom
                                                                                  of Sweden, refer to the Court of Justice a request for interpret-
in Case C-116/02 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from                         ation of the Brussels Convention, even where it relies on the
the Oberlandesgericht Innsbruck): Erich Gasser GmbH v                             submissions of a party to the main proceedings of which it has
                             MISAT Srl (1)                                        not yet examined the merits, provided that it considers, having
                                                                                  regard to the particular circumstances of the case, that a
                                                                                  preliminary ruling is necessary to enable it to give judgment
(Brussels Convention — Article 21 — Lis pendens —
                                                                                  and that the questions on which it seeks a ruling from the Court
Article 17 — Agreement conferring jurisdiction — Obli-
                                                                                  are relevant. It is nevertheless incumbent on the national court
gation to stay proceedings of court second seised designated
                                                                                  to provide the Court of Justice with factual and legal information
in an agreement conferring jurisdiction — Excessive duration
                                                                                  enabling it to give a useful interpretation of the Convention and
of proceedings before courts in the Member State of the court
                                                                                  to explain why it considers that a reply to its questions is
                              first seised)
                                                                                  necessary to enable it to give judgment.
                            (2004/C 21/12)
                     (Language of the case: German)                          2.   Article 21 of the Brussels Convention must be interpreted as
                                                                                  meaning that a court second seised whose jurisdiction has been
                                                                                  claimed under an agreement conferring jurisdiction must
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published            nevertheless stay proceedings until the court first seised has
                     in the European Court Reports)                               declared that it has no jurisdiction.
In Case C-116/02: Reference to the Court under the Protocol
                                                                             3.   Article 21 of the Brussels Convention must be interpreted as
of 3 June 1971 on the interpretation by the Court of Justice of
                                                                                  meaning that it cannot be derogated from where, in general,
the Convention of 27 September 1968 on Jurisdiction and the
                                                                                  the duration of proceedings before the courts of the Contracting
Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters
                                                                                  State in which the court first seised is established is excessively
by the Oberlandesgericht Innsbruck (Austria) for a preliminary
                                                                                  long.
ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
Erich Gasser GmbH and MISAT Srl, on the interpretation of
Article 21 of the abovementioned Convention of 27 September
1968, as amended by the Convention of 9 October 1978 on
the accession of the Kingdom of Denmark, Ireland and the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (OJ                     (1) OJ C 144 of 15.6.2002.
1978 L 304, p. 1, and — amended text — p. 77), by the
Convention of 25 October 1982 on the accession of the
Hellenic Republic (OJ 1982 L 388, p. 1), by the Convention of
26 May 1989 on the accession of the Kingdom of Spain and
the Portuguese Republic (OJ 1989 L 285, p. 1) and by the
Convention of 29 November 1996 on the accession of the