GERMANY Law and Practice Contributed by: Tanja Pfitzner, Fabian von Schlabrendorff and Niklas-Arne Hecht, Pfitzner Legal
Foreign arbitral awards are to be recognised and enforced according to the New York Convention 1958; however the formal requirements of the New York Convention, such as submitting a certified translation of the arbitration agreement and the award, need not be fulfilled. The requesting party bears the burden of proof as to the existence of a valid arbitration agree- ment, and the court will rule on that question without being bound by the finding of the foreign arbitral tri- bunal. If the court denies enforcement, it cannot set aside the award but can only declare that it cannot be recognised in Germany. If the denial is based on a procedural defect which is subsequently remedied, a further application for recognition and enforcement is possible. 14. Outlook 14.1 Proposals for Dispute Resolution Reform Digitalisation and Modernisation Several mass proceedings in recent years, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, have challenged the tradi- tional practice of individual paper file processing in court and face-to-face hearings in the courtroom. The digitalisation of the judiciary is at the forefront of the reform discussions. For example, an online litigation tool for small claims with similar facts is expected to be tested at several pilot local courts, in which the parties and the court will only come together online. A digital system for filing complaints in the area of air passenger rights is already in use. Furthermore, in a “real-world laboratory” (Reallabor) in 2023/24, some regional courts tested the possibility of recording the facts of a case in a structured manner in a basic online document that is completed by both parties. The final report of the University of Regensburg, which accom- panied this project, concluded that the project had provided initial positive indications for the use of a basic online document, and further studies are con- sidered necessary to further explore the usefulness of this new way of presenting a case in civil proceedings.
There are currently a number of projects being trialled, such as projects like a generative language model for the judiciary, the creation of an anonymisation and guiding principle generation kit for the smart publi- cation of court decisions, the structuring of judicial proceedings files with the help of AI and AI apps, intelligent data extraction for the automation of file processing and mass proceedings assistance with the help of AI, as well as the creation of an AI strategy and the development of an AI platform. 2025 also saw the start of the preparatory phase for the implementation of a nationwide justice cloud. Further reforms are being intensively discussed at various levels. For example, the working group on the “Modernisation of Civil Procedure”, commissioned by the Federal Court of Justice and the Higher Regional Courts, submitted its final report in January 2025 with concepts and proposals for further legislative pro- jects, such as a judiciary portal with communication platform. 14.2 Growth Areas In the area of commercial litigation in Germany, an increasing number of lawsuits in the areas of digital economy and AI, data protection and cybersecurity, ESG and sustainability, competition law, and share- holder rights and corporate governance are expected in the coming years. These topics are being driven not only by technological and regulatory developments, but also by societal changes. Collective actions are also likely to increase in the coming years. Law firms are increasingly specialising in this area of law and there are more funders prepared to support litigation. The current case law supports this expectation. In its judgment in the Lindenapotheke case (C-21/23), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) confirmed that enforcement of data protection law is not the sole responsibility of national supervisory authorities and consumer associations, but that competitors are also entitled to bring actions under unfair competition law before the civil courts for data protection violations by competitors.
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