The parties argued about the defendant’s payment obligation within insolvency proceedings. The applicants were insolvency administrators. It was doubtful whether German courts were internationally competent.
The court held that the action of a public limited company’s creditors regarding the company’s underfunding that has been brought against the founding shareholders didn’t fall within the scope of application of Art. 5 no. 1 (‘place of performance’) because the claims that were brought up didn’t concern the inner relations between the parties but the company’s external relationship. Also, Art. 1 (2) (b) Brussels I wasn’t applicable because the claims didn’t directly concern a proceeding relating to the winding-up of insolvent companies. The court further held that Art. 5 no. 3 not only displaced national rules concerning international jurisdiction but also national rules on local jurisdiction.
The decision is correct.