Austrian Supreme Court rules on the application of the consumer protection clause in shareholder disputes

April 23, 2014


Since the Aus­tri­an Ar­bit­ra­tion Act 2006 entered into force, it has been widely dis­puted between legal schol­ars, wheth­er and to what ex­tent the con­sumer pro­tec­tion clause of the Act – which severely re­stricts the pos­sib­il­ity of con­clud­ing ar­bit­ra­tion agree­ments with con­sumers – also ap­plies in dis­putes between share­hold­ers when the ar­bit­ra­tion agree­ment is in­cor­por­ated in the stat­utes of as­so­ci­ation.

Since the Austrian Arbitration Act 2006 entered into force, it has been widely disputed between legal scholars, whether and to what extent the consumer protection clause of the Act – which severely restricts the possibility of concluding arbitration agreements with consumers – also applies in disputes between shareholders when the arbitration agreement is incorporated in the statutes of association.

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