GERMANY Law and Practice Contributed by: Tanja Pfitzner, Fabian von Schlabrendorff and Niklas-Arne Hecht, Pfitzner Legal
• fiscal courts; and • social courts.
civil procedure law are thus available to both domestic and international parties for the resolution of commer- cial disputes at the highest level of quality. The good experience gained from the more than 700 proceedings conducted by the Stuttgart Commer- cial Court, which has been in existence since 2020, is encouraging. The average duration of proceed- ings there was six-and-a-half months, and the rate of appeal is below 10%, which can be largely attrib- uted to the good preparation as well as the legal and economic understanding of the specialised judges for the proceedings. Commercial Courts have been established in Berlin, Bremen (specialised on aviation, aerospace and logistics law), Celle, Düsseldorf, Frank- An appeal may be lodged against decisions of the entry courts with the competent (higher) regional court. Judgments handed down on first appeal may be appealed to the Federal Court of Justice. Since October 2024, the Federal Court of Justice has the option of deciding on fundamental legal questions in the form of a leading decision even if the parties withdraw the appeal or the appeal proceedings are settled in another way. The leading decision, which has no formal binding effect, is to serve as a guide- line and orientation for the courts of instance and the public as to what the decision of the legal questions would have been. This law is intended to strengthen legal certainty and to relieve the courts of further mass individual actions. furt, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart. Appeals and Requests to the ECJ In pending proceedings, a German court may request an authoritative resolution by the European Court of Justice on unresolved questions of European law material to the outcome of the case. The European Court of Justice has jurisdiction only to answer the specific questions of European law and will not rule on the whole matter. In theory, the Federal Constitutional Court can over- rule any civil judgment for a violation of the fundamen- tal guarantees on civil procedure and substantive law in the German Basic Law. Such extraordinary objec-
The courts in each of these jurisdictional branches have exclusive jurisdiction over disputes falling within their jurisdiction. With a few exceptions, the court of entry for a civ- il dispute is either a local court or a regional court. Which court has jurisdiction as the entry court usually depends on the value of the dispute, while special rules apply to certain matters – eg, tenancy law or family law. The regional courts have special cham- bers for commercial matters. In very rare cases, higher regional courts may act as entry courts. As of 1 April 2025, Commercial Courts have been established in Germany. These Commercial Courts are specialised senates at the higher regional courts that are able to rule as a court of first instance on civil disputes between companies (with the exception of intellectual property, copyright and claims under the law against unfair competition), in connection with company acquisitions and on directors’ and officers’ liability suits. The jurisdiction of these Commercial Courts can be agreed between the parties by means of a choice of court agreement for disputes of this kind with an amount in dispute of EUR500,000 or more. At the regional courts, specialised Commercial Cham- bers are set up for all other disputes for which the regional courts have jurisdiction. At these Commercial Courts and Commercial Cham- bers, proceedings, including the decision, can be conducted in German or English. The new law also provides proven instruments of arbitration for effi- cient litigation. At an early organisational meeting (Case Management Conference), agreements can be reached on the structuring and course of the proceed- ings. If the parties so request, a verbatim protocol of the oral hearing and the taking of evidence can be prepared. The offer is complemented by specialised staffing, separate consulting rooms for the parties and modern technical equipment which allows for vide- oconferencing and state-of-the-art presentations. The excellent training of German judges, the independ- ence and acceptance of the German judiciary and the good calculability of the risk of litigation under German
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