GERMANY Law and Practice Contributed by: Konrad Schott, Jan Brinkmann and Johannes Vogel, Freshfields
2.6.5 Domestic Courts’ Approach to Foreign Laws and Judgments German courts would generally uphold a foreign law as the governing law of an aircraft lease, provided that a German court may give effect to German public policy and overriding mandatory provisions of either German law or of the laws of any other country pursu - ant to the Rome I Regulation, and must give effect to foreign exchange regulations pursuant to Article VIII 2 (b) of the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund. A submission to a foreign jurisdiction is generally accepted on the basis of, and subject to, Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 (the “Brussels Recast Regula - tion”), the 2005 Hague Choice of Court Convention, and/or the German Civil Procedure Code ( Zivilprozes- sordnung ). A party to a lease is entitled to waive sovereign immunity either explicitly in the lease or implicitly by engaging in the legal proceedings before the compe - tent German court without objection ( rügeloses Ein- lassen ). A blanket waiver of sovereign immunity does not necessarily include a waiver of consular immunity. A waiver of immunity by a German public entity may not necessarily be enforceable. 2.6.6 Domestic Courts’ Recognition of Foreign Judgments/Awards German courts will recognise and enforce: • a final judgment: (a) of a court within the EU (excluding Denmark) without retrial or re-examination pursuant to the Brussels Recast Regulation; and (b) of a court outside the EU or in Denmark if the requirements of an applicable bilateral or multi - lateral treaty are met (eg, and most importantly, the Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recogni - tion and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (the 2019 Hague Convention) and the Convention of 30 October 2007 on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Com - mercial Matters (the Lugano Convention); and (c) otherwise, if the prerequisites of the German Civil Procedure Code (Zivilprozessordnung,
ings. The lessor may utilise faster provisional judicial measures. However, the enforcement is restricted if the aircraft is used for specific purposes such as state or postal services, public transportation on scheduled routes, or if the aircraft is ready for take-off to a flight consti - tuting commercial transportation of people or goods. Approval by the LBA is required to fly the aircraft out of Germany. If the aircraft is located outside Germany, the applicable rules of the lex fori apply to any repos - session. 2.6.3 Specific Courts for Aviation Disputes There are no specific courts in Germany that are com - petent to decide disputes regarding sales or leases of aviation assets. The competent court is determined in accordance with general rules. In case of enforcement of a German registered aircraft mortgage ( Registerp- fandrecht ), the local court ( Amtsgericht ) of Braunsch - weig is exclusively competent to hear the case. 2.6.4 Summary Judgment or Other Relief In Germany, summary proceedings ( summarische Verfahren ) are generally available for the enforcement of pecuniary claims – the simplified document pro - ceeding ( Urkundenprozess ) – but not for the enforce - ment of any other right. In the case of a simplified document proceeding ( Urkundenprozess ) in respect of payment obligations, the court decides based on the document(s) in question and the statements of the claimant (if uncontested). A simplified judgment can be challenged by the defendant if the defendant prefers to rely on other evidence than the documents introduced during the simplified procedure. By way of interim relief, the competent German court may order an injunctive relief ( einstweilige Verfügung ) against the respondent pending final judgment if, in the absence of such injunction, the right of the peti - tioner would be frustrated or the realisation of such right would be substantially aggravated. This remedy is not restricted to pecuniary claims. However, the competent German court would not grant ultimate relief before the case is decided on its merits. Excep - tions may apply for ancillary items such as aircraft documents or where compliance with public law obli - gations is to be preserved.
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