JURE SUMMARY

JURE SUMMARY

The plaintiff brought an action against a defendant domiciled in Germany in the Bezirksgericht of the Inner City of Vienna (AT) seeking an injunction preventing him from spreading false statements regarding him. He claimed that the defendant had sent e-mails to various recipients in Austria in which he made the allegation that he, the claimant, was a functionary in extremist organisations which were responsible for the genocide of 1994 in Rwanda. When the court asked the claimant to make submissions as to jurisdiction, the claimant applied to the OGH (AT) for a determination of the Bezirksgericht of the Inner City of Vienna (AT) as the locally competent court by way of a procedure called ordination pursuant to § 28 JN. The OGH dismisses the application for ordination. The determination of the locally competent court is not necessary. The jurisdiction of the Austrian courts over the action brought against the German defendant arises out of Article 5(3) Brussels I Regulation. The tort forum of Article 5(3) may be invoked for actions due to insults, including claims to publication of refutations of cross-border publications. Article 5(3) governs not only international but also local jurisdiction. The court at the domicile of the recipient, at which he received the disputed message, has jurisdiction. Therefore, the claimant may bring his action in this court with appropriate pleadings without a determination of jurisdiction by the OGH.