Security for Costs Post-Brexit: Federal Supreme Court Provides Further Guidance

In a recent decision, the Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) had an opportunity to provide further guidance regarding the obligation of UK claimants to provide security for costs in German proceedings.The Federal Supreme Court and the Federal Patent Court (Bundespatentgericht) had already held in 2021 that corporate claimants have to post security for costs pursuant to Sec. 110 German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO), as there is no surviving treaty that would fill the gap left by Brexit.

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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Dear Readers, with this picture of the Frankfurt skyline, taken not too long ago from my office desk, I would like to thank you for your continued interest in this blog! It is hard to believe, but the blog is now in its 10th year, and it‘s still fun. I hope you and your loved ones are enjoying a couple of peaceful days – have a good start to the New Year! Continue reading

The Month in Retrospect: What Else Happened in August 2021

Coping with the Diesel Caseload

The Volkswagen wave of Diesel cases may be ebbing off in the lower courts, but Diesel-related claims against other manufacturers continue to be filed. In the Stuttgart district court (Landgericht), the number of new civil cases is up by 60%, driven primarily by Diesel claims against Daimler. And increasingly, cases end up in the Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof). This had let the court to temporarily create an additional senate, i.e. a bench of five judges. a measure that is taken extremely rarely. It helps distributing the burden more equally across the bench, but does not add capacity, as the number of judges appointed to the Federal Supreme Court does not change. Continue reading

News from Brussels on Lugano and The Hague

In July, the European Commission moved forward on some pending matters regarding international civil procedure. These concerned, on the one hand, the past in the form of the United Kingdom’s application to accede to the Lugano Convention post-Brexit, which was still formally to be resolved, and, on the other hand, the future, namely the European Union’s accession to the 2019 Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (Judgments Convention). Continue reading