Tag: Oberlandesgericht Frankfurt

Case of the Week: Litigating in the Shadow of Brexit

BrexitThis week, yet another Brexit deadline expired without additional clarity as to when and on what terms Brexit will occur. This creates uncertainties, which affect business relations with British parties, and impact, amongst many other fields, civil litigation. So in this week’s Case of the Week, we present the three cases I know of in which German courts had to decide on Brexit-related issues. The cases deal with security for costs, the validity of choice of court agreements and with freezing orders in a Brexit context.  Read More

Case of the Week: Brexit Does Not Facilitate Freezing Orders

olg-frankfurt-ganz-neu2In my opinion, obtaining a freezing order (Arrest) against the debtor pending final judgment tends to be rather difficult in this jurisdiction. Often, the courts set the bar for showing that “the enforcement of the judgment would be frustrated or be significantly more difficult”, as Section 917 German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) puts it, frustratingly high. It is somewhat easier if the debtor is situated abroad: Section 917 para. 2 ZPO stipulates that it is sufficient grounds for a freezing order if the judgment would have to be enforced abroad and there is no reciprocity with the foreign jurisdiction (Arrestgrund der Auslandsvollstreckung). As there is reciprocity across all member states of the European Union, this does not work, however, with respect to a debtor situated in the United Kingdom – at least for now.

In a recent case in the Frankfurt Court of Appeals (Oberlandesgericht), the applicant was seeking a freezing order against a German national who had moved to the United Kingdom. The applicant argued that given the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union and given that a final judgment would not be in place prior to the current Brexit deadline of 31 October 2019, the reciprocity exemption should not apply to the United Kingdom. Accordingly the freezing order should be granted pursuant to Section 917 para. 2 ZPO.

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Frankfurt Court of Appeals: Moving Towards Greater Specialization on the Bench

olg-frankfurt-ganz-neu2The Frankfurt Court of Appeals (Oberlandesgericht) is creating additional specialized senates (a Senat is a division of the court of appeals, sitting with three judges) as of the beginning of this year.

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Greek Debt Crises Reaches Federal Supreme Court

Coat_of_arms_of_Greece_svgGerman investors in Greek government bonds have sued the Hellenic Republic in German courts over losses suffered as a result of the restructuring of their bonds. The Greek debt restructuring which triggered this litigation took place in March 2012. Greek bonds were exchanged for new bonds with lower principal, lower interest rates and longer maturity, resulting in a haircut for investors. A large majority of investors accepted the swap, but some investors did not, and went to court. Read More