France / 21 November 2006 / France, Cour de cassation / Société Groupama Transports v. Société MS Régine Hans und Klaus Heinrich KG / 05-21.818
| Country | France |
| Court | France, Cour de cassation (French Court of Cassation) |
| Date | 21 November 2006 |
| Parties | Société Groupama Transports v. Société MS Régine Hans und Klaus Heinrich KG |
| Case number | 05-21.818 |
| Applicable NYC Provisions | II | II(2) | VII | VII(1) |
| Source |
Bulletin 2006 I N° 502 p. 447, Original decision obtained from the registry of the Cour de cassation |
| Summary | A French company (Deher Frères) entered into a contract with a German company (MS Regine Hans und Klaus Heinrich KG), for the transportation of a passenger ship from Toulon to Pointe-à-Pitre on 31 March 1999. The ship was damaged. The insurer of the French company (Groupama) commenced proceedings before domestic courts. The Cour d'appel de Basse-Terre (Basse-Terre Court of Appeal) dismissed the action and referred the parties to arbitration. Groupama challenged this decision on the grounds that it was not bound by the arbitration agreement included in the contract and that the lower courts had failed to establish that the French company (and its insurer) had knowledge of the content of the said arbitration agreement. The Cour de cassation (Supreme Court) reasoned that the NYC provides for the application of a more favorable domestic law concerning the recognition of the validity of arbitration agreements. It noted that the principles of validity of international arbitration agreements and of Compétence-Compétence preclude a national judge from ruling on the existence, validity and scope of the arbitration agreement before the arbitral tribunal has ruled on these matters, except if the agreement is manifestly void or not applicable, which it held was not the case here. |
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Attachment (1)
 Original Language Adobe Acrobat PDF |
