Facts
On January 30, 1980, the Swedish company I. AB and the Danzig state-owned enterprise C. concluded a five-year cooperation agreement on ship equipment. In Art. 11 of the contract, the parties agreed that disputes would be finally decided by an ICC arbitral tribunal seated in Zurich, applying Swiss substantive law.
In 1981, I. AB declared the contract terminated and shortly thereafter went bankrupt. The Swedish bankruptcy administrator confirmed on November 13, 1987, that the bankruptcy estate of I. AB had assigned all claims against C. to C.S. Ltd.
C.S. Ltd. then initiated two arbitration proceedings against C. and C. S.A. However, the arbitral tribunal denied its jurisdiction in two "preliminary decisions" dated March 26, 1990.
C.S. Ltd. challenges these decisions by way of a jurisdictional appeal and requests that the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal be affirmed.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismisses the appeals and confirms the rejection of jurisdiction by the arbitral tribunal.
The arbitral tribunal rightly denied its jurisdiction, as the arbitration clause in Art. 11 of the contract did not pass on to C.S. Ltd. due to the comprehensive assignment prohibition agreed…