VIENNA INSURANCE GROUP V BILAS

Case C-111/09, [2010] EUECJ, European Court of Justice, 20 May 2010

Insurance - Jurisdiction - Assured sued for premium - Assured not contesting jurisdiction - Whether submission to jurisdiction conferred jurisdiction - Brussels Regulation (EC) No 44/2001, articles 12, 24 and 35

The claimant insurers commenced proceedings against the assured for non-payment of premium. Although article 12 of Regulation permits an action to be brought against an assured only in the member state in which he is domiciled, the action was brought in another member state. The assured did not contest jurisdiction, and defended the claim on its merits. The insurers obtained judgment and sought to enforce it. The insurers relied upon article 24 of the Regulation, which states that: "Apart from jurisdiction derived from other provisions of this Regulation, a court of a Member State before which a defendant enters an appearance shall have jurisdiction. This rule shall not apply where appearance was entered to contest the jurisdiction". The question referred to the European Court of Justice was whether a voluntary submission to jurisdiction under article 24 overrode the protection given by the rule protecting assureds in article 12. The European Court of Justice held that article 24 prevailed in that it laid down a principle of general application the only exception to which arose where the defendant contested jurisdiction rather than simply contested the claim on its merits. It followed that a judgment had to be recognised and enforced in other EU member states under article 35 of the Regulation. The court rejected the suggestion that a submission to jurisdiction was effective only where the court asserting jurisdiction was satisfied that the assured was aware of the consequences of submission.