JURE SUMMARY

JURE SUMMARY

A French and an Italian company concluded an agency agreement in Italy, according to which the former was to promote the sale of goods, manufactured by the Italian company, in France and in French speaking African countries. The Italian company sued the agent in Italy and applied for the declaration of the termination of the contract on the grounds of bad performance by the agent. The Italian court seised held that it lacked jurisdiction and the question of international jurisdiction was referred to the Corte di Cassazione (IT). The Corte di Cassazione (IT) holds that the Italian courts lack jurisdiction. Article 5(1) Brussels Convention applies in the present case. In order to determine the place where the obligation in question (sales promotion) is to be fulfilled, as a first step, Italian private international law is to be applied. Accordingly, the law of the place where the contract was concluded is applicable, i.e. in the present case Italian law. According to Article 1182 (1) of the Italian Civil Code, the place of performance of an obligation is determined by the contractual agreements. As the sale of the goods was to be performed outside Italy, it follows that the Italian courts lack jurisdiction.