Federal Constitutional Court on International Judicial Co-Operation – A US Perspective

US_Supreme_Court_-_correctedOver at Letters Blogatory, Ted Folkman has picked up the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) on judicial assistance on which I reported earlier this week. Ted found a nice name for the case, In re Frau R.*, and shared an interesting observation from a US perspective: Continue reading

Porsche Hedgefund Litigation Reaches Yet Another Court in Germany

Oberlandesgericht_Celle,_Schloßplatz_2,_Front_Aufschrift_Ernst_August_König_1840We have tracked the proceedings brought by investors against Porsche for damages allegedly suffered when Porsche attempted to take over Volkswagen over the last couple of years, and followed the journey of these claims through courts in London, New York, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Braunschweig and Hannover. Now, at least a substantial part of these proceedings ended up in yet another German court, namely in the Court of Appeals (Oberlandesgericht) Celle. Continue reading

Art Law: Deletion of Search Entries on Lostart.de – Kahmann in Defence of the Federal Administrative Court

Man_in_an_Oriental_Costume_-_Isaac_de_JoudervilleIn earlier posts, we reported on the decisions of the lower courts, and finally of the Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht), on the legality of the continued publication of a search notice on lostart.de concerning Man in an Oriental Costume, a painting attributed to Jouderville, a pupil of Rembrandt, even after the painting had been located.  I had written that the judgment did not convince me legally, nor did I think it did the parties a service. The last post on the subject reported a case note of Boas Kümper who reached the same conclusion. In doing so, Kümper reviewed the decision in the light of the jurisdiction of the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) dealing with information provided and disseminated by state institutions (staatliches Informationshandeln).

The colourful background of the dispute between van Diemen & Co, the “Jewish” art trading company that auctioned the work off in 1935, and the “Jewish” bank, Jacquier & Securius, that had financed van Diemen’s partent company Margraf & Co is discussed in a 2011 BBC Feature.

Henning Kahmann, who acted for the subpoenaed participants (Beigeladene) which were ultimately was sucessful in these proceedings, had kindly offered to defend the Federal Administrative Court.* In addition, he provided me with an English translation of the judgment. Continue reading