German Federal Supreme Court on Pechstein: Update

220px-Claudia_Pechstein_2008Today, the September/October 2016 issue of the German Arbitration Journal (Zeitschrift für Schiedsverfahren) landed on my desk. It contains, for the benefit of all non-German readers, an English translation of the judgment dated June 7, 2016 in the matter of Claudia Pechstein v. International Skating Union (see here for our earlier coverage on this blog).

Annett Rombach has produced the translation, and has added an English-language case note. In addition, the same issue contains an article (in German) by Sebastian Langrée and Dominik Wedel, “Die Entscheidung über die Einrede der Schiedsvereinbarung nach § 1032 Abs. 1 ZPO als finaler verfassungs- und europarechtlicher Kontrollgegenstand – (K)ein Ende des Prozessmarathons im Fall Pechstein in Sicht?“. Here is the English abstract:

“On 7.6.2016, the Cartel Panel of the German Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) announced its decision in the case of Claudia Pechstein: Her action for damages was held inadmissible and rejected as it conflicts with the arbitration agreement. Based on this decision, this article illustrates arbitration agreements in general and, specifically, objections based on an arbitration agreement pursuant to Sec. 1032 para. 1 German Code of Civil Procedure (Zivilprozessordnung) in the context of judicial decision-making and according to higher-ranking (constitutional) law. This article is not a review of the court’s decision as such. Instead, it aims to search for a possible final defence against a decision on an objection based on an arbitration agreement pursuant Sec. 1032 para. 1 German Code of Civil Procedure. For this purpose, the case of Claudia Pechstein offers a relevant example.”

Annett Rombach had previously published an English language case note on the decision of the Munich Court of Appeals (Oberlandesgericht) in the Pechstein matter: The “Pechstein-judgment” of the OLG München: What does it mean for international sports and commercial Arbitration?, SchiedsVZ 2015, 105.

The photo was taken by Bjarte Hetland at the 2008 World Cup in Hamar, Norway.

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