Peter Bert on Damages for Violations of Choice of Court Agreements in Germany
Friend of Letters Blogatory Peter Bert brings us a report of a very recent case from the Bundesgerichtshof on the question of damages for violations of a choice of court agreement. Peter has cross-posted this on his blog, Dispute Resolution in Germany.
In a judgment last week, the Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) has found a US party liable for damages for bringing an action against its German contractual counterparty in the US in violation of an agreement on the jurisdiction of the German courts. With this judgment, the Federal Supreme Court decided an issue that so far had been controversially debated in the German legal literature. Until this decision, it was not clear whether the violation of a choice of court agreement does not only have a procedural effect, but does also render the violating party liable for monetary damages. (Disclosure: This post is based on the Federal Supreme Court’s press release only, as the full judgment is not yet available. I will provide an update when the judgment comes out.) (more…)