General lack of jurisdiction of Romanian courts. Appeal against the judgment dismissing the action as inadmissible. Jurisdiction of the national court where the plaintiff is a "consumer"

JURISPRUDENȚĂ COMENTATĂ ȘI ADNOTATĂ

Abstract

The general rule on foreign nationality dispute, laid down in Article 4 of Regulation 1215/2012, is that "Subject to the provisions of this Regulation, persons domiciled in a Member State shall, whatever their nationality, be sued in the courts of that Member State".

Article 17 of the same Regulation regulates the jurisdiction of the courts in the case of claims relating to consumer contracts, being of a special nature, derogating from the general rule laid down in Article 4.

On the basis of the documents on file, it appears that the defendants directed their activity to the Member State in which the plaintiff is domiciled (Romania) by electronic means (internet), since the car rental services were contracted by the plaintiff via a website, in Romanian, and the services were accessible even in his own country, a fact not contested by any of the parties.

According to Article 18 para. (1) of the Regulation, "A consumer may bring proceedings against the other party to the contract either in the courts of the Member State in which that party is domiciled or, regardless of the other party's domicile, in the courts for the place where the consumer is domiciled".