The Petersberg Arbitration Days (Petersberger Schiedstage) are a regular annual event for many in the German arbitration community. This year, the conference agenda comprises corruption, money laundering and compliance from an international arbitration perspective (Korruption, Geldwäsche und Compliance im Blickpunkt der internationalen Schiedspraxis). The conference is held at the Petersberg Hotel in Königswinter near Bonn.
Month: January 2014
U.S. Discovery in Aid of German Proceedings: Kreke Immobilien, Sal. Oppenheim and Deutsche Bank
Today’s guest post is a slightly amended version of a post published at Letters Blogatory last week. Ted Folkmann discusses In re application of Kreke Immobilien, a case from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. A German party was seeking discovery under Sec. 1782 U.S.C. in support of German proceedings. Sec. 1782 has become an increasingly popular tool (see here for an earlier post on the topic) for German litigants to overcome the inherent limitations of German civil procedure to obtain documents from the opponent, or from third parties. But let’s now hear from Ted: Read More
German Civil Procedure: What’s New in 2014
On January 1 of each year, new legislation comes into force. So what’s new in German civil procedure? Read More
Art Law: Proposed Legislation for the Reform of Limitation Rules
In December 2013, as a reaction to the Gurlitt art find, the newly appointed Bavarian Minister of Justice announced that Bavaria would propose a change of the German Civil Code to address the application of the statute of limitation to looted art. And he delivered: The proposal was approved by the Bavarian State Government today. Bavaria’s initiative to amend the Civil Code – which is federal, not state law – will now be dealt with in the Upper Chamber (Bundesrat) of the German parliament. It is expected to be on the Bundesrat’s agenda on February 14, 2014. If it passes this hurdle, the proposal will be dealt with, and ideally approved by, the Lower Chamber (Bundestag). Here is a link to the proposed legislation – the Kulturgut-Rückgewähr-Gesetz, or Art Restitution Act. Watch this space for a more detailed post commenting on the proposal.