Luxembourg, 08/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - In a judgment delivered on 3 May (case C-286/05) the Court of Justice found that proceedings concerning a contract where there are several places of delivery should be held in the court of the area for the principal place of delivery. The Austrian High Court (Oberster Gerichtshof) referred the matter to the Court, asking for interpretation of Council regulation 44/2001 on legal competence in commercial matters.
In the case brought before the Austrian Court, German sunglasses supplier Lexx refused to take back unsold glasses from its Austrian customer Color Drack, claiming that too great a proportion of the order was being returned. The contract between the parties provided for such a requirement to take back unsold goods, without any reference to a proportion of the order.
Color Drack took the matter to the Bezirksgeright St Johann im Pongau, the local court in the area where company headquarters are located. However, with the goods in question being delivered directly to various addresses throughout Austria, this court did not feel it was competent to make a decision. The case then went to Landesgericht Salzburg, the regional court, and then to the Oberster Gerichtshof, which decided to refer the issue of territorial jurisdiction to the Court of Justice.
The Court's judgment confirms that Article 5 (1) (b) of regulation 44/2001 should be interpreted in such a way that the court having jurisdiction is the one in the area of the principal place of delivery, which must be determined on the basis of economic criteria. In the absence of determining factors for establishing the principal place of delivery, the applicant (Color Drack in this instance) may sue the plaintiff in the court for the place of delivery of its choice. This clarification applies only to cases where all disputed deliveries are made in the same member state. (cd)