PIL instrument(s)

Case number and/or case name

I. NV v. C. SL - AR 02/3897 - Kh. Hasselt, 18 December 2002

Details of the court

Belgium, First Instance

Articles referred to by the court

Date of the judgement

17 December 2002

Appeal history

CJEU's case law cited by the court

Summary

The claim relates to the unpaid purchase price of sales made by a Belgian seller to a Spanish buyer. The general invoice conditions of the seller provide in Dutch only that all disputes will be settled by the courts at the statutory seat of the seller will have jurisdiction and that the invoices are to paid at the statutory seat of the seller. The claimant still relied on the Brussels Convention, but the Court applies the Brussels I Regulation which entered into force on 1 March 2002. The Court reopens the debates in order to allow the parties to submit evidence on the following questions: the Belgian courts have jurisdiction only when the claimant is able to prove that either (i) the parties have a longstanding and regular trade relationship and the defendant knows and understands Dutch or (ii) that the delivery took place in Belgium. Short critique This decision is in line with other Belgian case law where the language of a choice of court clause is also considered to be a validity requirement.