Article 22

What it means when you sign

This article covers a case where the defendant does not appear and the court has no jurisdiction under the earlier articles on the courts' jurisdiction over persons from abroad. In that situation the court decides on its own initiative that it lacks jurisdiction, without waiting for anyone to raise the point.

The article is about what happens when the defendant stays away. A court does not simply proceed because nobody objects. It checks its own jurisdiction and, if the earlier articles do not give it jurisdiction, it declares that it has none.

When you are about to sign a contract, this article means that if a claim is brought in a court of the State and the other side does not turn up, the court will still look at whether it has jurisdiction. A clause that sets the place where disputes are heard, or ties the contract to a performance location, may matter to that check. A party who chooses a forum with no real connection to the case may find the court declining jurisdiction by itself. The article describes the court's duty. It does not give a party a right to sue or to avoid suit.