JURE summary

JURE summary

On 25 May 2017, the Trgovački sud u Varaždinu (hereinafter 'the Court of First Instance in Varaždin') issued a decision in case No P-237/16-4. In its decision, the Court of First Instance in Varaždin declined its jurisdiction, and decided, after its decision becomes legally valid, to hand the case over to the Općinski sud in Čakovec (hereinafter 'the Court of First Instance in Čakovec'). As no appeal was filed against the decision, it became legally valid.

The plaintiff O.G.M.K. filed a lawsuit against the defendant T. d.o.o., a Slovenian company, to obtain payment, due to the termination of a Purchase Agreement for a Tractor dated 02 November 2015. The Court of First Instance in Varaždin considered that according to the provisions of Article 34(b)(1) of the ZPP (¹) (Official Gazette 53/91), it had no jurisdiction to decide, and that the Court of First Instance in Čakovec is factually and locally competent to handle the case. The Court of First Instance in Varaždin considered the fact that the plaintiff, as a family farm owner, is an adult person responsible for his business, is permanently or occasionally working on the farm, and is not a trader in the sense of the provision of Article 1(1) of the ZTD (²).

The factual and local jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance in Čakovec is based on the provisions of Article 5 of the Brussels I Regulation (³), according to which a person domiciled in a Member State may, in another Member State, be sued in matters relating to a contract, in the courts for the place of performance of the obligation in question, or in the specific case, in the place where, in accordance with the contract, the goods should be delivered.

(¹) Zakon o parničnom postupku (Civil Procedure Act).

(²) Zakon o trgovačkim društvima (The Companies Act).

(³) Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.