Group Josi Reinsurance Company SA
v
Universal General Insurance Company (UGIC)
(Reference for a preliminary ruling
from the Cour d'Appel, Versailles)
(Brussels Convention - Personal scope - Plaintiff domiciled in a non-Contracting State - Material scope - Rules of jurisdiction in matters relating to insurance - Dispute concerning a reinsurance contract)
Opinion of Advocate General Fennelly delivered on 9 March 2000 ?I - 0000
Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber), 13 July 2000 ?I - 0000
1. Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments - Jurisdiction - General - Conditions governing the application of Title II - Defendant domiciled in a Contracting State - Plaintiff domiciled in a non-member country - No effect unless there is an express provision in the Convention
(Convention of 27 September 1968, Title II)
2. Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments - Jurisdiction in matters relating to insurance - Objective - Protection of the weaker party - Scope - Disputes between professionals in connection with a reinsurance contract - Excluded
(Convention of 27 September 1968, Arts 7 to 12a)
3. Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments - Jurisdiction in matters relating to insurance - Protection of the weaker party - Scope - Disputes between an individual and a reinsurer - Included
(Convention of 27 September 1968, Arts 7 to 12a)
1. Title II of the Convention of 27 September 1968 on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters is in principle applicable where the defendant has its domicile or seat in a Contracting State, even if the plaintiff is domiciled in a non-member country. It would be otherwise only in exceptional cases where an express provision of that convention provides that the application of the rule of jurisdiction which it sets out is dependent on the plaintiff's domicile being in a Contracting State. That is the case if the plaintiff exercises the option open to him under Article 5(2), point 2 of the first paragraph of Article 8 and the first paragraph of Article 14of the Convention, solely where the defendant's domicile is not situated in a Contracting State.
(see paras 47, 61 and paragraph 1 of the operative part)Å
2. The rules of special jurisdiction in matters relating to insurance set out in Articles 7 to 12a of the Convention of 27 September 1968 on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters do not cover disputes between a reinsurer and a reinsured in connection with a reinsurance contract. In affording the insured a wider range of jurisdiction than that available to the insurer and in excluding any possibility of a clause conferring jurisdiction for the benefit of the insurer, they reflect an underlying concern to protect the insured, who in most cases is faced with a predetermined contract the clauses of which are no longer negotiable and is the weaker party economically. No particular protection is justified as regards the relationship between a reinsured and his reinsurer. Both parties to the reinsurance contract are professionals in the insurance sector, neither of whom can be presumed to be in a weak position compared with the other party to the contract.
(see paras 64, 66, 76, and paragraph 2 of the operative part)Å
3. Although the rules of special jurisdiction in matters relating to insurance set out in Articles 7 to 12 of the Convention of 27 September 1968 on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters do not cover disputes between a reinsurer and a reinsured in connection with a reinsurance contract, they are, on the other hand, fully applicable where, under the law of a Contracting State, the policy-holder, the insured or the beneficiary of an insurance contract has the option to approach directly any reinsurer of the insurer in order to assert his rights under that contract as against that reinsurer. In such a situation, the plaintiff is in a weak position compared with the professional reinsurer, so that the objective of special protection inherent in Article 7 et seq. of the Convention justifies the application of the special rules which it lays down.
(see para. 75)Å