EUPillar X v Y - Vred. Landen-Zoutleeuw, 1 June 2011

Summary

In 2001, the parties had bought a holiday house together in San Lorenzo, Italy, with the aim to rent the house to tourists. They sold the house again to a new owner in 2006, but some of the costs to be shared between the previous co-owners remain disputed. The action at hand seeks to settle accounts between the parties. The claimants brought proceedings before the Court of First Instance of Leuven. That court decide it has international jurisdiction, but refers the case to the Justice of the Peace, who on the national level is solely competent over matters of co-ownership. The Justice of the Peace is bound by the previous decision of the Court of First Intance of Leuven, but only on the matter of competence, which does not include its international jurisdiction; it can re-examine this issue (cf. Art. 660, second paragraph Belgian Judicial Code). The Justice of the Peace decides that it does not have international jurisdiction over the case, in accordance with Art. 22(1) Brussels I Regulation, which confers exclusive jurisdiction on the courts of the Member State in which the property is situated. The court correctly applies the grounds of exclusive jurisdiction.