These days, a court decision related to Russia is likely to attract special attention. Therefore, it is worth pointing out at the outset that this matter is unrelated to Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Koblenz Court of Appeals (Oberlandesgericht) happened to hand down its decision in March 2022, but the matter dates back to 2019. Read More
Federal Supreme Court on Independent Evidentiary Proceedings vs. Expert Determination
A dispute relating to the construction of a highway bridge gave the Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) the opportunity to clarify the relationship between the independent evidentiary proceedings (selbständiges Beweisverfahren; Sec. 485 Code of Civil Procedure, ZPO) and an expert determination agreement (Schiedsgutachtervereinbarung). Read More
Goethe University, Frankfurt: German & International Arbitration Course, Summer Term 2022
Goethe University’s Law School has just announced the details for this year’s course in German and International Arbitration. Again, this year’s edition will be completely virtual, so it might be of interest to students outside Frankfurt as well. Here is the official course announcement:
EU Commission: Proposal on Cross-Border Videoconferencing in Court Hearings
When the pandemic started and court hearings by video became a real thing, German lawyers found, sometimes to their surprise, that the law was actually quite advanced: Already back in 2002, Section 128a ZPO was introduced to allow the conduct of court hearings using videoconferencing technology and the law was updated in 2013 (see our earlier post “Remote Courts in Germany” for details). The law in action has since caught up with the law on the books: Courts have been equipped with the necessary hardware and hearings by videoconferencing have become a regular feature in many court rooms across the country – and they are likely to stay in a post-pandemic world. However, there remains some uncertainty regarding the use of videoconferencing in a cross-border context.