Summary
Pursuant to Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 44/2001, Italian courts have jurisdiction over a statement of opposition, lodged by a claimant domiciled in Portugal, against an order for payment (decreto ingiuntivo) issued in Italy upon request of an Italian citizen on the ground of four bank cheques pertaining to an “economic relationship” between them whose characterization is disputed (being it considered alternatively the payment for the sale of a car between private parties or the payment for the sale of goods due in relation to long-lasting commercial relations between the parties), as the pending proceedings concerns a sale contract – no matter its characterization – which, according to the undisputed claimant’s allegations, was concluded in Italy, the defendant having made no allegation to the contrary, i.e. that the place of performance of its obligation is different from that where the contract had been concluded. The fact that the defendant has no domicile in Italy and the lack of any choice-of-court agreement in favour of the Italian courts is completely irrelevant for the purposes of establishing their jurisdiction.