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If it is an alleged breach of contract (eg the consumer says that you failed to deliver what was agreed), you could be sued in another Member State by a consumer living there if the dispute is about:
• a contract for the sale of goods on instalment credit terms; or
• a contract for a loan repayable by instalments, or for any other form of credit, made to finance the sale of goods; or
• a contract stemming from commercial activities which you pursued or by any means directed to the Member State where the consumer lives.
If it is alleged that goods or services you have supplied have harmed someone (and for example the injured person wants compensation), it is possible that you will be sued in the court of the Member State where the harmful event occurred. Often this will be where the person making the claim lives.
There are no detailed rules and no case law, so this guidance can only be general. But if you are intending to sell to consumers in other parts of the EU, you could be viewed as directing your activities to them. Indications that you mean to sell beyond the UK could include, amongst other things:
• advertising in the consumer's country, e.g. in magazines meant for that country or all EU Member States;
• sending brochures or other information to consumers in another Member State;
• offering a choice of the languages on your website;
• giving prices in Euros;
• giving delivery times or delivery costs for other Member States.
If you never sell to consumers outside the UK, you cannot be sued anywhere else for breach of contract unless your terms and conditions allow it. You could make your intentions clear by saying in your literature or on your website that you do not sell to consumers outside the UK.
If you do not intend to sell outside the UK, but inadvertently sell something to a consumer in another Member State and a contractual dispute arises, you will not necessarily be sued in the consumer's country. For example, the fact that a website is accessible in another Member State should not in itself mean it is directed there. On the other hand if for example your website provides information in different EU languages, it may not be enough to say later that you did not mean to sell outside the UK.
This guidance note concerns jurisdiction (that is, which country's court will hear a cross border case), not which country's law would be applied. One does not always follow the other. Information on applicable law issues is available by clicking here.
The Brussels Regulation deals with matters of jurisdiction in civil and commercial cases - that is, in which EU Member State a court case about a dispute between litigants will be heard. The E-commerce Directive does not deal with jurisdiction and it will not affect the operation of the Brussels Regulation rules.
The Brussels Regulation deals with matters of jurisdiction - that is, in which EU Member State a court case will be heard - in civil and commercial disputes. The 1980 Rome Convention deals with which country's law applies in contractual disputes; it covers business to business and business to consumer cases. In certain consumer cases the consumer's law will apply.
On 22 July 2003, the European Commission presented a proposal for a Regulation on the law applicable to non-contractual situations, known as Rome II. The proposed Regulation would affect the treatment of claims involving defamation, advertising, intellectual property rights, and product liability. Click here to view the Commission's draft document.
The general rule in the Brussels Regulation is that civil law judgments given in the courts of other Member States will be enforceable through the courts in the UK. This is subject to various general defences such as that the judgment is inconsistent with an earlier judgment given by a UK court between the same parties. However, where the Regulation's special rules on consumers have been applied by a foreign court, recognition may also be refused if any of those rules have been misapplied by that court.
Legal action is usually a last resort, especially in cross border consumer cases. Most disputes are settled through discussion and negotiation. The risk of being sued abroad is likely to be low, and the Government is committed to promoting low cost, user friendly alternatives to court action. It is actively supporting initiatives to develop cross border alternative dispute resolution (ADR) schemes, such as ombudsmen and arbitration. You may be able to reduce the risk of being sued abroad by joining an ADR scheme (see below).
If however you want to avoid the risk of being sued for breach of contract in other EU Member States, you should not direct your activities to those countries. To be certain, you should not sell to consumers in those countries.
No, not where consumers are concerned.
In the UK, a considerable number of organisations run out of court or alternative dispute resolution (ADR) schemes, such as ombudsman (e.g. the Financial Services Ombudsman), arbitration (such as the scheme run by the Association of British Travel Agents), mediation and conciliation. Many of these schemes aim to settle disputes in a way which is informal, user friendly and low cost.
The EU Member States have developed the European Consumer Centre Network ((ECCnet) to help consumers access ADR schemes in other Member States and offer advice to consumers in cross border disputes. Further information about EEC-Net is available at: www.euroconsumer.org.uk.
In the UK, ADR schemes include statutory ones like the Financial Services Ombudsman and those run by trade associations, commercial providers such as law firms, and schemes run by consumer organisations. See for example the schemes listed on www.euroconsumer.org.uk. You could also consider subscribing to a trade association, on-line code of practice or other arrangemnet which gives access to an ADR. Other sources of information include the British and Irish Ombudsmens' Association (http://www.bioa.org.uk/) and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (http://www.arbitrators.org/).
The Department for Constitutional Affairs is responsible overall for the Regulation. Further information can also be found on the Commission's European Judicial Network website.
