Lead Rulings by the German Federal Court of Justice

Oct 6, 2023 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

Mass tort litigation, such as the diesel scandal, is putting a strain on Germany’s civil courts. The German government has now passed a bill introducing a ‘lead-ruling procedure’ at the Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof, hereinafter BGH) level. The aim is to provide legal certainty more quickly by avoiding the need for additional legal proceedings on one and the same legal issue.

In the past, BGH decisions were often prevented by the withdrawal of appeals for procedural reasons or due to settlements.

The new system allows the BGH to rule on fundamental issues even if the parties have previously withdrawn their appeal or the case has ended in some other way.

In most cases, similar legal issues are at stake in the mass proceedings. If these legal issues are initially ruled upon by the BGH, the cases still pending in the lower courts can then be decided much more quickly on the basis of such key rulings.

In addition, the BGH has the option of choosing the most appropriate procedure from among the pending cases in order to cover the widest possible range of legal issues.

Lead rulings will have no formal binding force and are without prejudice to the underlying case. Rather, they are intended to guide and orientate the courts and the public as to how the legal issues would have been decided. The courts may, with the consent of the parties, stay the parallel proceedings pending the lead ruling.

Press Release No. 48/2023, German Federal Government (16 August 2023)