GERMANY Law and Practice Contributed by: Daniel Engel, Antonia Hösch, Mathäus Mogendorf and Viola Sailer-Coceani, Hengeler Mueller
10.3 Future German courts are increasingly embracing AI to enhance efficiency. In April 2025, federal and state governments adopted a joint AI strategy for the judi- ciary. Hessen plans to equip all public prosecution offices with AI-based analytical software by 2028. The Reform Commission on the “Civil Procedure of the Future” is developing concepts for fully digitalised court proceedings. Constitutional limits remain firm: judicial decision- making must rest with humans. So-called robo- judges are precluded under the German Constitution ( Grundgesetz ). AI will increasingly serve as an assis- tive tool, particularly in automated case structuring, document analysis, mass proceedings and digital pro- cedural platforms. AI will also be seen more frequently in arbitration, whereas it is subject to ongoing debate whether any use of AI by an arbitral tribunal must be disclosed to the parties.
must comply with professional obligations, particu- larly consent requirements. 10.2 Impact The German judiciary has adopted a cautious approach to AI, though it has shown increasing openness in resource-intensive mass proceedings – particularly in air passenger rights, diesel emissions claims, GDPR disputes and online gambling cases. AI is used primarily for data structuring, case catego- risation and decision preparation. Key pilot projects include: FRAUKE (Frankfurt Local Court) for analysing written submissions and generating draft judgments; OLGA (Stuttgart Higher Regional Court) for diesel proceedings; and MAKI, a generic system developed in co-operation with the University of Göttingen that can be trained for various types of proceedings and is now deployed across multiple federal states. All sys- tems function exclusively as assistive tools – judicial decision-making remains entirely a human function. On the level of legal professionals, AI is primarily deployed for legal research, document analysis, and draft preparation. The legal AI market is growing rap- idly, with German providers (Beck-Noxtua, Codefy) and international platforms (Harvey, Legora) offering legal-specific services. While general legal tech tools are widespread, and AI-supported applications are becoming increasingly embedded in lawyers’ day- to-day work, more systematic AI use remains con- strained by concerns regarding reliability and integra- tion as well as restrictions imposed by data protection and professional services regulation.
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