We have covered climate change litigation here before, in particular the case of a Peruvian farmer against German utility company RWE currently pending before the Court of Appeals (Oberlandesgericht) Hamm. So I thought I ought to alert readers to food for thought on the topic that is on offer: Read More
Month: June 2020
Frankfurt Court of Appeal: Arbitrator’s Dissenting Opinion Violates Public Policy
To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time that a German court has gone on the record on the issue of dissenting opinions in arbitration: The Frankfurt Court of Appeals (Oberlandesgericht) has taken the view that the publication of a dissenting opinion by the minority arbitrator violates the procedural ordre public, thus constituting a reason to set aside the arbitral award pursuant to Section 1059 para. 2 no 2 b) of the German Code of Civil Procedure (Zivilprozessordnung, ZPO). I discuss the decision in detail in a post at the Kluwer Arbitration Blog. Here’s the summary: Read More
Federal Supreme Court on Court Assistance to Arbitral Tribunals in Taking of Evidence
Anyone summoned by a state court to be heard as a witness is in principle obliged to appear and testify (Section 380, 395 et seq. Code of Civil Procedure ZPO) and the courts can enforce that obligation. Things are different, however, in arbitration: There is no duty to appear before an arbitral tribunal. Read More
New Justice at the Federal Constitutional Court: Astrid Wallrabenstein
On 15 May 2020, the Bundesrat (literally “Federal Council”, a legislative body that represents the sixteen federal states at the federal level), elected Astrid Wallrabenstein as a justice to serve on the Second Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht).