Since 2025, the judiciary has been offering a service for high-value commercial disputes through the Commercial Courts, designed to strengthen Germany’s position as a centre for the administration of justice in the face of international competition. This service is tailored to the needs of the business community and is thus also intended to provide an alternative to private arbitration. To this end, procedural elements such as a single instance for determining the facts, proceedings conducted in English, a fixed hearing date, verbatim transcripts available for review and enhanced confidentiality are provided for. By deviating from the general rules of procedure in this way, the judiciary has, in a manner unprecedented to date, accommodated the procedural interests of the parties as identified.

With regard to practical implementation, the following questions, amongst others, arise: What experience has been gained from practice to date? What do businesses, the legal profession and academia expect from the new tribunals? What are the implications for the management of the judiciary? And what conditions must be met to ensure that Commercial Courts can handle cross-border disputes efficiently and strengthen Germany’s position as a centre for the administration of justice in the long term?

This innovation may also serve as a blueprint for further reforms geared towards the interests of potential parties to proceedings, particularly with regard to issues of digitalisation.