DE: Contents of the grounds for appeal? - Can it also be improved?

Dec 24, 2021 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

A statement of the grounds for appeal must - in order to meet the substantive requirements - refute all the arguments mentioned regarding the rejection of the claim in the dismissed judgment. Overlooking just one argument leads to inadmissibility of the appeal. Any possibility of rectification lapses when the time limit for filing the grounds for appeal expires.

According to the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH), the statement of grounds of appeal within the meaning of Section 520 para 3 sentence 2 no. 2 of the German Code of Civil Procedure (Zivilprozessordnung, ZPO) must contain a description of the circumstances from which, in the opinion of the appellant, the infringement of the law and its relevance for the contested decision arise. The specific evidence which give rise to doubts as to the correctness or completeness of the findings of fact in the contested judgment, and therefore require a renewed determination, must be identified.

The BGH also stated that in cases where the dismissal of the legal action was based on several independent legal considerations, the grounds of appeal must address all the considerations raised by the court in order for the grounds to meet the substantive requirements. The reason for this is that in such cases each of the equivalent grounds of the judgment of the first instance carries the decision. Even if the objections made against one ground for appeal prevail, this does not change the fact that the action is still open for dismissal on the other ground. In this respect, it is not sufficient to merely reassert the existence of claims in the statement of grounds and to repeat almost verbatim the submissions from the statement of claim and to subject them to a renewed assessment by the court of appeal.

It should also be noted that an inadequate statement of grounds for appeal can no longer be remedied after expiry of the time limit for filing the grounds for appeal pursuant to Section 520 para 2 ZPO.

BGH VIII ZB 50/20 (07.10.2021)