Cross-border Debt Recovery Blog
by Marco Sposini
Laywer, Milan Bar Association
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The Italian Supreme Court on jurisdiction under Article 3(2) of Italian Law No 218 of 31 May 1995
3 March 2024
The Italian Supreme Court, sitting en banc, by order No 5303/24, published on 28 February 2024, confirmed that, if the defendant is not domiciled in a Member State of the European Union:
– pursuant to Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 44/2001, the jurisdiction of the courts of each Member State shall, subject to Articles 22 and 23, be determined by the law of that Member State;
– pursuant to Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012, the jurisdiction of the courts of each Member State shall, subject to Article 18(1), Article 21(2) and Articles 24 and 25, be determined by the law of that Member State;
– according to Italian law, Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 and Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 refer to Article 3(2) of Italian Law No 218 of 31 May 1995. It follows that, even if the defendant is not domiciled in a Member State, in the case of one of the matters already covered by the Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968 and, in particular, in the case of the sale of goods, the Italian courts have jurisdiction on the basis of the criteria laid down in Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 and in Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012.
Therefore, under Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 (applicable in the present case ratione temporis), for all disputes arising from the contract, the Italian court has no jurisdiction, if the goods were delivered in Turkey.
The text is available here