GERMANY Law and Practice Contributed by: Tanja Pfitzner, Fabian von Schlabrendorff and Niklas-Arne Hecht, Pfitzner Legal
Modernisation of Civil Procedure Further reforms are being intensively discussed at various levels, including by a working group on the “Modernisation of Civil Procedure”, com- missioned by the Federal Court of Justice and the Higher Regional Courts. 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, competi- tion law, and shareholder rights and corporate governance are expected in the coming years. These topics are being driven not only by tech- nological 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 sup- port litigation. The current case law supports this expectation. In its judgment in the Linde- napotheke 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 enti- tled to bring actions under unfair competition law before the civil courts for data protection violations by competitors.
sions. For example, an online litigation tool for small claims with similar facts will soon be tested at several pilot local courts, in which the parties and the court will only come together online. The trial is set to run for a period of ten years, with evaluations to be carried out after four and eight years. 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 accompanied this project, concluded that the project had provided initial positive indica- tions for the use of an basic online document, whereby further studies are considered neces- sary to further explore the usefulness of this new way of presenting a case in civil proceedings. Lead Decision Proceedings 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 guideline 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 fur- ther mass individual actions. The first case was already determined by the Federal Court of Jus- tice on the day the new law came into force.
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