A French buyer and a German seller concluded a contract for the sale of industrial equipment. After delivery of the goods, the buyer commenced an action against the seller claiming restitution of a part of the purchase price paid in excess. The seller objected on the ground that the French Court had no jurisdiction to hear the case.
The Court applied Art. 5(1) of the EC Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (Brussels 1968), pursuant to which a person domiciled in a Contracting State (in the case at hand: that of the seller) may be sued in the Court for the place of performance of the obligation in question (in the case at hand: restitution of price paid in excess). The Court applied French private international law rules and held that French law and therefore CISG (Art.1(1)(b) CISG), was the applicable law to determine the place of performance of the obligation in question. The Court held that since a claim for restitution of a surplus paid is a demand for payment, restitution must be made at the buyer's place of business in accordance with Art. 57(1)(a) CISG, pursuant to which the price must be paid at the seller's place of business.
As a matter of fact the rule set forth in Art. 57 CISG is an expression of the general principle that obligations to pay are to be performed at the creditor's place of business. Not only thus this general principle underly CISG, but has been stated in general terms with respect to all kinds of international commercial contracts in Art. 6.1.6 of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts. The Court therefore affirmed its jurisdiction. |