Summary
Pursuant to Article 23 ofRegulation (EC) No 44/2001, Italian courts do not have jurisdiction over a dispute brought by the trustee in bankruptcy (curatore) of an Italian company against a French company, in which the main claim is aimed at obtaining a declaration that the agreements amending a contract for the construction of certain ships by the defendant are null and void and, consequently, at enforcing the guarantee for defects provided by the original contract, and the subordinate claim is a claw-back action (revocatoria fallimentare) concerning said agreements, since said agreements contain clauses conferring exclusive jurisdiction to French courts. In fact, the existence of jurisdiction shall be determined with exclusive reference to the main claim, which does not ‘arise from bankruptcy’, as it may be brought even before, and regardless of, the fact that the plaintiff is declared bankrupt. Furthermore, said dispute does not fall within the scope of application of Article 3(2) of Law No 218/1995, with reference to Article 24 of Bankruptcy Law. Pursuant to Article 6(1) of Regulation (EC) No 44/2001, Italian courts do not have jurisdiction if the claims brought against one of the defendants, which has its seat in Italy, do not have elements of connection with those brought against the main defendant that justify the application of said provision.