In the world of law, it is not uncommon to have to think about international jurisdiction. International jurisdiction refers to the country in which the courts are called upon to rule on a legal dispute with a foreign connection. Only recently, the ECJ had to rule on the concept of domicile in this context.
The concept of domicile is of utmost importance for the international jurisdiction of courts, as numerous EU regulations stipulate that many legal disputes must be brought before the courts of the defendant's domicile.
The decision (C 222/23) of the ECJ was based on the fact that Bulgaria had a regulation according to which the permanent address of Bulgarian nationals had to remain on Bulgarian territory and could not be changed even if a national moved to another member state. The ECJ now had to deal with the validity of this provision.
In its judgment, the ECJ expressly emphasized the paramount relevance of the concept of domicile. After all, the defendant's domicile is the connecting factor in determining international jurisdiction if there is no agreement between the parties regarding international jurisdiction. As a result, the nationality of the defendant is irrelevant. At the same time, however, the ECJ also states that, in principle, the member states should determine the domicile of a natural person in accordance with their national law. Both domicile as a connecting factor and the determination of domicile on the basis of national law are regulated in the Brussels I Regulation. The Brussels I Regulation is the EU regulation on international jurisdiction.
However, this is not intended to undermine the practical effectiveness of a Union act. In the present case, the nationals have a permanent address under national law at all times and thus a permanent residence in the territory of Bulgaria. As a result, international jurisdiction will always be established in Bulgaria due to the permanent residence. In effect, not only domicile and nationality have been linked, but nationality is the only relevant factor under this regulation. However, this contradicts the principle that international jurisdiction is determined on the basis of domicile and not nationality. As a result, this principle standardized in the Brussels I Regulation is undermined.
It can therefore be inferred from the judgment that, although the determination of domicile is a matter for national law, a rule according to which the domicile of nationals living abroad on the basis of a permanent address in the first Member State is contrary to the provisions of the Brussels I Regulation.
Author:
Dr. Dominic John Patrick Porta, LL.M.
Attorney at Law (Düsseldorf Bar Association n° 52954)
Abogado (ICAIB n° 6645)
dominic.porta@anwaltmallorca.eu
www.anwaltmallorca.eu
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