GERMANY Law and Practice Contributed by: Thomas Nägele, Simon Apel, Jonathan Drescher and Alexander Stolz, SZA Schilling, Zutt & Anschütz
party is required to reimburse the prevailing par - ty for all costs of litigation fees inclusive of court fees, expenses and attorney fees of both parties in the statutory amount. The judgment rendered by a court always encompasses a decision on the reimbursement of cost. In the case of a par - tial win, the statutory amount of the total cost will be split pro rata. 7.5 Costs In addition to lawyers’ fees, a successful claim - ant can recover disbursed court costs as well as costs for witnesses and experts. For the process for seeking an award of costs, see 7.4 Attor- neys’ Fees . In general, the general civil law rules apply in appellate procedures, with some minor modi - fications. Appeals against first-instance decisions ( Beru- fung ) will be conducted before the Higher Regional Courts ( Oberlandesgerichte ). Within one month of service of the full version of the judgment, the appellant must submit a state - ment of appeal. Within one more month, the appellant must submit a statement on the grounds of appeal describing the reasons why they consider the judgment to be erroneous and the significance of these errors for the judg - ment; such further filing period may usually be extended once for one month or even longer, depending on the complexity of the case. Fur - ther extensions require the consent of the other party. The Higher Courts of Appeal review the case on points of law and with regard to the facts. With regard to the latter, they enjoy a con - 8. Appeal 8.1 Appellate Procedure
siderable degree of discretion as to which facts they review again. The second appellate level (revision) before the FCJ is subject to explicit permission to appeal being granted. This permission may be grant - ed by the Higher Regional Court or by the FCJ itself upon the filing of a so-called non-admis - sion complaint ( Nichtzulassungsbeschwerde ) against the denial to grant a second appeal. For the filing of a non-admission complaint and the non-admission complaint respectively, the same deadlines apply as in the first-level appeal (see the preceding paragraph). The content require - ments are also similar, and it must be submitted by an attorney admitted to practice before the FCJ. The FCJ only reviews the decisions of the lower courts on points of law. At the first appellate level, as a general rule, the duration of the proceedings will usually take at least six to 12 months. The second-level appeal very often lasts for a further 18 to 24 months, until a decision is rendered. The appeal mechanism as described above is available to both claimants and respondents in the main proceedings. In proceedings for interim relief, only first-instance decisions can be appealed, while the second appellate level is not available. 8.2 Factual or Legal Review At the first appellate level, as a general rule, a full review of the facts of the case and on points of law will take place. However, a statement of completely new facts compared to the first- instance proceedings is only permitted subject to certain restrictions (eg, the facts only occurred after the judgment in review was made).
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