EUPillar Lerobel NV v. Bee & Bee NV - 04/4195 - Kh. Hasselt, 3 November 2004

Summary

The claim concerns the unpaid purchase price of uncontested invoices sent by the Belgian seller to a Dutch buyer. The general conditions of the invoice provide that in the event of a dispute either the courts of Hasselt or the courts of the domicile of the buyer have jurisdiction, at the discretion of the seller. The claimant invokes a practice established between parties. The Court is of the opinion that such a practice has been established, since two invoices had been paid voluntarily by the defendant and a quotation for another invoice explicitly refers to the general conditions of the seller. The forum selection clause respects Art. 23 Brussels I Regulation. Short critique The Court accepts that a practice has been established between the parties on the basis of two invoices that were sent and paid without reservations. It is important to know that these two paid invoices relate to a prior transaction to the one underlying the present dispute. This is in line with other Belgian case law, where the number of invoices is of secondary importance to the number of separate and prior transactions between the parties.