GERMANY Law and Practice Contributed by: Tanja Pfitzner, Fabian von Schlabrendorff and Niklas-Arne Hecht, Pfitzner Legal
The determination of international jurisdiction is based either on EU law, in particular the Recast Brussels Regulation or the Lugano Convention 2007, or on the provisions on local jurisdiction contained in the Code of Civil Procedure. In principle, a defendant must have its domicile or registered seat of business in Germany to be sued in Germany. In addition, other factors, such as the location of a branch, or the place of performance of the contract, the occurrence of damage or the com- mission of an unlawful act, may establish the jurisdic- tion of German courts. Actions for monetary claims against a person not domiciled in Germany will fall within the jurisdiction of the German court in whose district that person’s property is located, if the subject matter of the dispute has a sufficient domestic con- nection with Germany. Agreements made between the parties regarding the choice of place of jurisdiction are generally accepted; however, such agreements may be invalid if a con- sumer is a contracting party. The appearance of a defendant in court without objecting to the jurisdiction of the court generally gives the court international and local jurisdiction. If the circumstances determining the jurisdiction of the court change later, the court does not lose its jurisdic- Court proceedings are initiated by filing a statement of claim with the court. Since 2022, documents may only be filed via the special electronic attorney mailbox. The statement of claim must meet certain mandatory requirements, such as being written in German and signed, and setting out the facts on which the relief sought is based. It may refer to exhibits. It is at the discretion of the court to allow exhibits in a foreign language, provided that the court has sufficient com- mand of the respective language. If a court does not permit foreign-language exhibits, the party relying on them must, at the request of the court, prepare trans- lations in whole or at least of the relevant passages. tion (perpetuatio fori). 3.4 Initial Complaint
There is no procedural rule requiring the plaintiff to include a legal analysis of the case, but this is com- mon practice and advisable. The plaintiff may amend the claim in subsequent submissions or add additional claims if the defend- ant gives its consent or the court deems the amend- ments appropriate. Specific types of amendments are not subject to these limitations, such as the correc- tion, extension or restriction of the original motions or the addition or correction of the original factual state- ments. 3.5 Rules of Service Once the statement of claim has been filed, the plain- tiff is required to make an advance payment of the full court costs. As long as this mandatory requirement is not fulfilled, the court will not serve the statement of claim on the defendant. While subsequent submis- sions may be served directly between the parties’ attorneys, the statement of claim can only be served by the court. If a defendant refuses service, or if the defendant can- not be reached at their domicile or place of business, the statement of claim may be left in these premises or deposited at the post office or the competent local court with a notice to the defendant, in lieu of service itself. For defendants domiciled outside Germany within the EU, service of process is governed by Regulation (EU) 2020/1784 (the “EU Service Regulation”). The EU Ser- vice Regulation allows for electronic service; insofar as Germany currently only allows service by means of a qualified electronic registered delivery service. Service in other countries may be affected in accord- ance with the provisions of the Hague Civil Procedure Convention, the Hague Service Convention or one of the bilateral treaties to which Germany has acceded. In the absence of a treaty, service of process will be affected in accordance with the international princi- ples relating to reciprocity in granting judicial assis- tance. If service of process is not possible, the court may order service by public notice – ie, by displaying a summary of the statement of claim and a notice where
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