GER: Bundestag Poised to Introduce Commercial Courts

Jul 26, 2024 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

The German Bundestag (federal parliament) has passed a bill that will allow German federal states to set up commercial courts. These courts will be able to hear first-instance commercial cases with a value of EUR 1 million or more, provided that the parties involved agree on this.

On Thursday, 4 July 2024, the Bundestag adopted the government’s draft bill, Law to Strengthen Germany as a Legal Venue by Introducing Commercial Courts and Adopting English as a Court Language in Civil Matters.

The parliamentary groups of the SPD, Alliance 90/The Greens, FDP, and CDU/CSU voted in favour of the draft bill, which has been amended in the course of a parliamentary proceedings. The AfD voted against the draft; Die Linke abstained.

The Legal Venue Strengthening Act (Justizstandort-Stärkungsgesetz) is intended to authorise German federal states to set up specialised commercial chambers in which proceedings can be conducted in English or German. The German government hopes that this will strengthen Germany’s position as a legal venue in international competition with private arbitration. With the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union and the resulting loss of importance of the London Commercial Court, Germany is seizing the opportunity to catch up in the international competition for commercial disputes by rapidly promoting the establishment of commercial courts.

In future, specialised commercial courts will be able to hear commercial civil cases with a value of EUR 1 million or more at first instance. However, all parties involved must have previously agreed to this.

It is envisaged that first instance decisions of the commercial courts can be appealed to the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof). The courts will also allow proceedings in English, after having obtained permission to do so by the competent senate.

Other legal proposals include the exclusion of the public during proceedings in order to protect business secrets.

Publication of the Bundestag, Bundestag beschließt Einführung von Commercial Courts (4 July 2024)