EUPillar OLG Celle, 26.3.2008

Summary

The parties argued on a contract of guarantee. The defendant had adopted the contract of guarantee from a hotel company. The plaintiff had unsuccessfully claimed the payment extrajudicially. The defendant entered the defence by an extensive written pleading. Three months later he reprimanded the international jurisdiction of German courts with another pleading. The court held that an entering of appearance within the meaning of Art. 24 Brussels I doesn’t require that the party makes an application in an oral hearing. The wording of Art. 24 doesn’t state the requirement of applications in oral hearings. The CJEU (C-150/08) stated that the reprimand of jurisdiction within the meaning of Art. 24 has to be made before the activity that according to national procedural law means an entering of appearance. In German procedural law the first entering of appearance is given when the defendant submits a pleading without reprimanding the jurisdiction. In the present case the defendant reprimanded the international jurisdiction of German courts three months after submitting the pleading. Therefore the decision is correct and German courts were competent pursuant to Art. 24 Brussels I.