Facts

Parties:

  • Appellant: X. Assicurazioni S.p.A., an insurance company based in A., Italy.
  • Respondent: Y. Insurance AG, an insurance company based in B., Switzerland.

Facts:

  • The respondent applied to the Commercial Court of the Canton of Zurich to compel the appellant to pay CHF 1,159,741.96 plus default interest.
  • The claim is based on an alleged reinsurance contract for the insurance period between October 1, 1987, and September 30, 1988.
  • The appellant contested the jurisdiction of the Commercial Court and argued that the court was not locally competent.
  • The Commercial Court dismissed the objection of lack of jurisdiction with a decision of June 13, 2013.

Main question:

  • Where is the place of performance of the characteristic service in connection with an international (retro-)reinsurance contract?

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court applies the law ex officio and generally only examines the grounds of appeal raised, unless the legal defects are obvious. The appeal must be sufficiently substantiated, otherwise it will not be considered. The Federal Supreme Court bases its judgment on the facts established by the lower court and can only correct or supplement them if they are obviously incorrect or based on a violation of the law.

International jurisdiction is to be assessed under the provisions of the Lugano Convention (LugC), as both Italy and Switzerland are Contracting States. The special provisions of Art. 8 ff. LugC do not apply to reinsurance contracts. The provisions on "Special Jurisdictions" under Art. 5-7 LugC regulate in which cases a person with a residence or seat in one Contracting State can be sued before the courts of another Contracting State.

The lower court held that the place of service provision must be determined autonomously under the Convention and not under the law governing the contract. The respondent argued that the place of performance should be determined under the law governing the contract. The Federal Supreme Court followed the lower court and found that the place of performance must be determined autonomously under the Convention, as no contractual agreement on the place of…