A French company and a Spanish buyer entered into a contract for the sale of goods. The buyer transferred the price to a bank account of the seller at a Spanish bank in Madrid. Subsequently, the seller brought an action against the buyer for payment of the purchase price, alleging that the payment had not been effected in the proper place of performance. The buyer argued, inter alia, that the French Court had no jurisdiction to hear the case.
The Supreme Court confirmed the Appellate Court decision and ordered the buyer to pay the price. In doing so, the Court applied Art. 5 (1) of the 1968 Brussels Convention on Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters, pursuant to which a person domiciled in a Contracting State may be sued in the court for the place of performance of the obligation in question (in the present case, payment of the price). The Court established that the price had to be paid at the seller's place of business (i.e. France) in accordance with Art. 57 CISG, since the contract neither provided for a specific place of performance, nor for payment of price against handing over of goods or documents.
Therefore the French courts had jurisdiction to hear the case and the buyer had to pay the price at the proper place. |