Decision

Upon examination and deliberation, we have found that the facts of the lawsuit indicate that on 10/01/2019, the plaintiff [.], represented by [.], filed the initial Case No. 135/2019 before the Amman Court of First Instance, against the defendant [.], based in Germany, to claim the payment of the amount of 31,000 Dinar for fee purposes and for reasons stated in the statement of claim.

And whilst the defendant submitted the statement of defence and documentary evidence, it filed the request no. 353/2020 to dismiss the lawsuit for the existence of an arbitration clause based on the following grounds and facts:

  • The plaintiff filed the initial Case No. 135/2019 to demand compensation for damages, losses and loss of profits, arguing that they resulted from the termination of the commercial agency contract.
  • The plaintiff based its lawsuit on the agreement concluded between it and the defendant documented in 1987.
  • The plaintiff neglected the fact that the mentioned agreement has been repealed and substituted by annual agreements since 2015 and, in its provisions, these annual contracts referred to the general terms and conditions, with regard to matters not contained therein. And in the case of disputes between the defendant and the plaintiff in relation to agreements with the buyers that are based outside of the European Union (such as the plaintiff in this case), they will be definitely settled according to the DIS Arbitration Rules (Bonn). And that the agreement is governed by German law in terms of drafting, validity, interpretation and implementation of the brand name between the parties. The place of arbitration is the Federal Republic of Germany, and this is a valid and applicable contractual clause.
  • Article 12 of the Jordanian Arbitration Law states that .A court before which an action is brought in a dispute which is the subject of an arbitration agreement shall dismiss the case if the defendant so requests before entering into the substance of the dispute. This Article is compatible with the international obligations of the Kingdom and with Article 2 of the New York Convention of 1958 considering that the defendant is not Jordanian.
  • The applicable law is German law and not Jordanian law according to the agreement signed between the parties. Consequently, the plaintiff cannot invoke the Law on Commercial Agents and Intermediaries.

And it [the defendant] demanded at the end of its submission to dismiss the lawsuit and to order the plaintiff to pay the fees, expenses and attorney's fees.

On 25/01/2021, the Court of First Instance decided to stay the proceedings of the initial lawsuit and move to examine the request. At the end of the hearing, it rendered its decision in presaentia on 23/05/2021, which included accepting the request in its form and in the subject matter to dismiss the initial Case No. 135/2019 and to order the plaintiff to pay the fees, expenses and the amount of 1,000 Dinar as attorney's fees.

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Previously published in the International Journal of Arab Arbitration, Volume 14, N°2 - 2022

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