Summary
Pursuant to Art. 5(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 (applicable to the case at issue), Italian courts do not have jurisdiction over a claim brought by an Italian company seeking primarily to obtain a negative declaratory judgment in relation to some sale contracts or any other obligations allegedly existing with a French company and, as an alternative, to establish that the contracts entered into between them are void, inexistent, invalid or ineffective and, as a further alternative, that such contracts must be terminated due to the fact that they have become too burdensome. Even though Art. 5(1)(b) seems to cover only actions seeking to obtain the enforcement of a contract and not its termination or dissolution and, moreover, a strict interpretation of the mentioned provision is imposed by its exceptional character in relation to the general forum of the defendant’s domicile, nonetheless the proceedings concerning validity, effectiveness or existence of any contractual relationship between the parties fall within the notion of “matters relating to a contract”, as they all involve the assessment of the existence of any obligation freely assumed by one party towards another, whose binding character they variously challenge.
As to the determination of the place relevant under Art. 5(1)(b) or Regulation (EC) No 44/2001, the court of first instance has correctly recognised the jurisdiction of French courts over the case at issue, since the parties undisputedly agreed that the goods were to be delivered in France and the proceedings concerning validity, effectiveness or existence of a contractual relationship fall within the jurisdiction of the same courts competent to hear the claim for enforcement of the contract.