ECJ: The Concept of the Place of Delivery of the Goodsʹ in Terms of Article 5(1) (b) of Brussels I Regulation /Car trim ccase)

Abstract

The paper discusses the judgment C-381/08 of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) of 25 February 2010 on a reference for preliminary ruling made by the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in the case of the Car Trim. This reference for preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 5(1) (b) of Brussels I Regulation and, more specifically, concerns the issue of how to determine the place of delivery of the goods in the case of contracts involving carriage of goods. The question of BGH was whether in case of a sales contract involving carriage of goods, the place where the goods were delivered or should have been delivered is to be determined by reference to the place of physical transfer to the purchaser. ECJ came to the conclusion that in the case of a sale involving carriage of goods, the first indent of Article 5 (1) (b) of Brussels I Regulation must be interpreted as meaning that the place where, under the contract, the goods sold were delivered or should have been delivered must be determined on the basis of the provisions of that contract. Where it is impossible to determine the place of delivery on that basis, without reference to the substantive law applicable to the contract, that place is the place where the physical transfer of the goods took place, as a result of which the purchaser obtained, or should have obtained, actual power of disposal over those goods at the final destination of the sales transaction.