Case C‑322/14
Jaouad El Majdoub
v
CarsOnTheWeb.Deutschland GmbH
(Request for a preliminary ruling from the
Landgericht Krefeld)
(Judicial cooperation in civil matters— Jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters— Regulation (EC) No44/2001— Article23— Agreement conferring jurisdiction— Formal requirements— Communication by electronic means which provides a durable record of the agreement— Definition— General terms and conditions of sale which can be consulted and printed from a link which enables them to be displayed in a new window— Click-wrapping)
Summary— Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 21May 2015
Judicial cooperation in civil matters— Jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters— Regulation No44/2001— Prorogation of jurisdiction— Agreement conferring jurisdiction— Communication by electronic means which provides a durable record of such an agreement— Concept— Accepting the general terms and conditions of a contract for sale by ‘click-wrapping’ which contains an agreement — Included— Condition— Possibility to print and save the text of those terms and conditions before the conclusion of the contract
(Council Regulation No44/2001, Art. 23(2))
Article23(2) of Regulation No44/2001 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters must be interpreted as meaning that the method of accepting the general terms and conditions of a contract for sale by ‘click-wrapping’, concluded by electronic means, between professionals, which contains an agreement conferring jurisdiction, constitutes a communication by electronic means which provides a durable record of that agreement, within the meaning of that provision, where that method makes it possible to print and save the text of those terms and conditions before the conclusion of the contract.
In that connection, it follows from a literal interpretation of Article 23(2) that that provision it requires there to be the ‘possibility’ of providing a durable record of the agreement conferring jurisdiction, regardless of whether the text of the general terms and conditions has actually been durably recorded by the purchaser before or after he clicks the box indicating that he accepts those conditions. Therefore, the fact that the webpage containing those conditions does not open automatically on registration on the website and during each purchase cannot call into question the validity of the agreement conferring jurisdiction.
(see paras 33, 39, 40, operative part)