DOMICILE UNDER BRUSSELS SYSTEM

Brussels 1, 44/2001 Regulation applies where:

 

1.  A civil and commercial matter.

2. The defendant is domiciled in EU Member State

 

 

Meaning rule (point 2): the defendant is domiciled in Europe Union  (EU) Member State.

 

The court of the Member State seised of the matter shall apply their own definition of domicile to determine whether a party is domiciled in that Member State. ART. 59 B1.
 

In order to determine whether a party is domiciled in another member state, a court must apply the law of that State. Exemple: if the United Kingdom courts, having decided (after using their own definition) that a person is not domiciled in the UK, want to know whether the defendant is domiciled in Spain, they must apply the Spanish definition of domicile (in Spanish "residencia habitua"l, we apply ART 40 Spanish Civil Code, CC).

 

According to ART. 60 of 44/2001 Regulation, when a party is a company or other legal person or association of natural persons is domiciled at the place where it has its:

 

1. Statutory seat (sede estatutaria),
2. Central administration (administración central)
3. Principal place of business. (actividad principal de la empresa)