What is being done at this line in the servlet: at com.playjam.server.test.TestServlet.doGet(TestServlet.java:49) My guess: the transaction is not committed until the create() method exits. It is not until the transaction is committed that the database is updated and notices the error, and that is too late for the catch block in create(). View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=4176234#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...