EUPillar OLG Stuttgart, 25.11.2002

Summary

The plaintiff is a German resident claiming payment of a prize notification. The defendant is a shipping company from France which is getting in contact with consumers in Germany. In June or July 2001 the plaintiff received a letter from the defendant on which the phrase “Jackpot Prize of 60.000 DM. Last Call for prize demand” was printed in red capital letters. In the letter, several brochures for purchase orders of the defendant were attached. The lawyer for the plaintiff, then, tried to collect the prize. However, in the letter the lawyer sent to the defendant, the general terms and conditions were crossed out. Therefore, the defendant refused to pay the prize. The first instance accepted the international jurisdiction of the German courts. The defendant appeals against this decision. However, the decision was confirmed by the appellate court. According to Art 513 (2) ZPO (German code of civil procedure) the international jurisdiction of the first instance cannot be reviewed by the appellate court unless there is a case of arbitrariness or an exclusive jurisdiction in another Member State. The court stated that for the question when a lawsuit is filed, the national law is to be applied according to Art 66 (1). The court then determined that, in any case, the first instance had in fact international jurisdiction over the case. It bases its opinion on Artt. 15 (1)(c), 16 (1) according to which the plaintiff had the choice to sue the defendant either in Germany or at its seat in France. It states that a prize notification according to Art 661a BGB (German civil law code) is a contractual claim under the regulation. In its judgment the court considered all relevant arguments to the case. It engages with different opinions and the case law of the CJEU in regard to prize notifications.The judgemnt is correct. This was later confirmed in a different decision of the CJEU C-180/06 Ilsinger (prize notification under Art 15 (1)(c)).