Case number and/or case name
BVBA Added Value v JMT Evenementenservice BV - A/08/02572 - Kh. Gent, 9 June 2009
Details of the court
Belgium, First Instance
Articles referred to by the court
Brussels I
Article 23
Paragraph 1
SubParagraph a
Paragraph 1
SubParagraph b
Paragraph 1
SubParagraph c
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 5
Date of the judgement
08 June 2009
CJEU's case law cited by the court
Summary
The applicant claims compensation for breach of a leasing agreement. For this purpose the applicant relies on a choice of forum clause in the General Terms and Conditions granting jurisdiction to the Commercial Court of Ghent.
The defendant states that she never agreed with these General Terms and Conditions.
The Commercial Court finds that the parties had repeatedly contracted before. Therefore a practice had developed between them and the choice of forum clause was considered valid.
Short critique: The Court does not actually cite Art. 23 Brussels I, but it is clear from the context of the case that it refers to its international jurisdiction and that it applies art. 23(1)(b). Clearly, for the court it is determinative that the parties had prior dealings to establish the validity of the choice of court clause in the general terms and conditions of the claimant.