Savezni vrhovni sud Njemačke potvrdio je odluku Visokog regionalnog suda u Frankfurtu kojom je prihvaćen tužbeni zahtjev Republike Hrvatske /
German Federal Court of Justice upholds the decision of the High Regional Court in Frankfurt which accepted Croatia’s claim
Savezni je vrhovni sud Njemačke odbacio žalbu tuženika protiv odluke suda Visokoga regionalnog suda u Frankfurtu od 11. veljače 2021. godine kao nedopuštenu te dosudio trošak žalbenog postupka Republici Hrvatskoj.
Kao što smo već izvijestili Visoki je regionalni sud u Frankfurtu (Oberlandesgericht) 11. veljače 2021. donio odluku u predmetu po tužbi Republike Hrvatske protiv dvije banke u kojoj je prihvatio stav Republike Hrvatske na temelju odluke Suda Europske unije u predmetu Achmea da je arbitražni postupak, a koji su ove dvije banke pokrenule protiv Hrvatske prema odredbama austrijsko-hrvatskoga BIT-a, nedopustiv i da se ne može nastaviti.
Odluka Visokoga regionalnog suda od posebne je važnosti jer je prva odluka kojom se izražava pravni stav da se zaključak Suda Europske unije u predmetu Achmea primjenjuje na sve bilateralne sporazume o zaštiti i promicanju stranih ulaganja zaključene između država članica EU ("intra-EU BIT-ovi"), a ne samo na nizozemsko-slovački BIT o kojem je bila riječ u predmetu Achmea.
O odluci u ovom predmetu izvijestio je Jus Mundi u "Arbitration 2021 in Review" dostupnom na: https://blog.jusmundi.com/sdm_downloads/arbitration-2021-year-in-review/ . U navedenom se izvješću, u dijelu koji se odnosi na Njemačku, navodi: "…Republika Hrvatska je sada na putu da uspješno spriječi arbitražni postupak koji je pokrenula austrijska banka i njezina hrvatska podružnica (...) Odluka Višeg regionalnog suda u Frankfurtu na Majni potaknula je Nizozemsku da usvoji sličan pristup kako bi pokušala osporiti dvije arbitraže pri ICSID-u inicirane od strane njemačkih tvrtki..."
Državno odvjetništvo Republike Hrvatske zastupalo je Republiku Hrvatsku u ovom predmetu u suradnji s njemačkim odvjetnikom dr. Matthiasom Kochom, njemačkim odvjetničkim društvom Alexander & Partner te odvjetničkim uredima Foley Hoag LLP i David A Pawlak LLC koji također sudjeluju kao savjetnici u UNCITRAL arbitražnom postupku.
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The German Federal Court of Justice dismissed the appeal of Raiffeisen Bank International AG i Raiffeisen Bank Austria d.d. and affirmed the decision of the High Regional Court in Frankfurt which upheld the claim of the Republic of Croatia that arbitration proceedings premised on the arbitration clause of the Austria-Croatia BIT are inadmissible.
The German Federal Court of Justice dismissed the appeal against the decision of the High Regional Court in Frankfurt of 11 February 2021 as inadmissible and awarded the appeal procedure's costs to the Republic of Croatia.
As we already reported, on 11 February 2021, in a case initiated by the Republic of Croatia against two banks, the High Regional Court in Frankfurt (Oberlandesgericht) accepted the position of the Republic of Croatia, based on the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Achmea case, that the arbitration proceedings instituted by these two banks against Croatia under the provisions of the Austria-Croatia BIT are inadmissible, and cannot proceed.
The decision of the High Regional Court in Frankfurt is of particular importance because it is the first decision expressing the legal position that the conclusion of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Achmea case applies to all bilateral agreements on protection and promotion of foreign investments concluded between EU member states (intra-EU BITs), and not just the Dutch-Slovak BIT at issue in Achmea.
Jus Mundi reported about this case in Arbitration 2021 in Review available on: https://blog.jusmundi.com/sdm_downloads/arbitration-2021-year-in-review/ . The Review in the section regarding Germany reads as follows: "… the Republic of Croatia is now on the way to successfully avert arbitration proceedings initiated by an Austrian bank and its Croatian subsidiary. (…)The decision of the Higher Regional Court Frankfurt am Main has inspired the Netherlands to pursue a similar approach to try and ward off two ICSID arbitrations by the German companies..."
The State Attorney's Office of the Republic of Croatia has represented the Republic of Croatia in these proceedings with the assistance of the German lawyer Dr Matthias Koch, German law firm Alexander & Partner in cooperation with the law firms of Foley Hoag LLP and David A Pawlak LLC, which also serve as counsel in the UNCITRAL arbitration proceedings.