GERMANY Law and Practice Contributed by: Christian Strasser, Thomas Wambach and Yannick Greimann, HEUKING
Titles From the UK After the UK left the EU, judgments from UK courts were not seen as EU or Lugano titles. Fortunately, the UK joined the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements (2005) in January 2021. However, there are still uncertainties as regards enforcing UK judg - ments. According to a best practice approach, these judgments are to be enforced by following the (bilat - eral) Convention for the Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters of 14 July 1960. The German Law on Execu - tion of the Convention provides for a simplified pro - cedure similar to the enforcement of arbitral awards. Notably, as of 1 July 2025, the Convention on the Rec - ognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention) applies between the European Union and the United Kingdom. However, in terms of temporal scope, only civil and commercial proceedings that were filed on or after 1 July 2025 before the courts of the United Kingdom or Germany are governed by the Convention. For proceedings initiated before that date, enforcement must still be sought under the Con - vention for the Reciprocal Recognition and Enforce - ment of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters of 14 July 1960. The substantive scope of the HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention extends to enforceable judicial decisions on the merits, including judgments rendered in default of a party and decisions on costs. With the Convention now in force, the mutual recog - nition and enforcement of judgments is likely to have been considerably facilitated. However, it will take some time before the first judgments are recognised under the new regime and its full practical impact becomes clear. Titles From All Other Countries Titles from states other than EU and Lugano states cannot be enforced in Germany without further for - mal court proceedings. Enforcement of such titles is subject to a mandatory declaration of enforceability by judgment in a procedure under Sections 722 and 732 of the ZPO. Such proceedings only take place if an international treaty between Germany and the third country secures
the reciprocity (of the recognition of judicial titles) or if at least this reciprocity is established. If no such agreement exists, the foreign title cannot be enforced in Germany by any means (countries that titles cannot be enforced from for this reason are even unexpect - ed “candidates” like Liechtenstein, Abu Dhabi, South Africa, Uganda, etc). The scope of review in the proceedings is determined by Section 328 of the ZPO. While no review of the foreign title on the merits is conducted within this recognition procedure, both the procedural standard in the original proceeding and the conformity of the decision with the German ordre public are assessed. Enforcement of such a title can be immensely time- consuming due to the potentially extensive duration of the proceedings. If this judicial procedure is complete, enforcement takes place based on the judgment of the German court. Therefore, the foreign judgment is technically not enforced as it has been converted to a German judgment. 3.2 Variations in Approach to Enforcement of Foreign Judgments There is no special approach to particular types of foreign judgments. However, as with domestic titles, only performance judgments can be enforced in Ger - many. As described under 2.6 Unenforceable Domes- tic Judgments , there is no enforcement procedure for declaratory judgments in Germany, and the same applies to such foreign titles. 3.3 Categories of Foreign Judgments Not Enforced As described in 3.1 Legal Issues Concerning Enforce- ment of Foreign Judgments , judgments from states that have not concluded an international treaty on the recognition of foreign judgments with the Federal Republic of Germany or for which reciprocity is not established cannot be enforced in Germany. Furthermore, judgments that violate Section 328 of the ZPO are not recognised. Contrary to the wording of Section 328 of the ZPO, not only “judgments” are eligible for recognition, but also
184 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook