Direktlink:
Inhalt; Accesskey: 2 | Hauptnavigation; Accesskey: 3 | Servicenavigation; Accesskey: 4
Homepage » Market Entry » Legal Requirements » Enforcing the Law

Enforcing the Law

picture showing lady justice
© HHS/pixelio.de
  1. Place of Jurisdiction
  2. German Courts
  3. Civil Procedure Law
  4. Quick and Simple
  5. Alternative Forms of Dispute Resolution
  6. Self Supervision of Administrative Authorities
  7. Enforcement of Claims
  8. Insolvency Proceedings

Quick and Simple

Some procedures have been developed to simplify judicial proceedings and the enforcement of judgments within Europe:

Because many lawsuits are concluded by way of default judgment, the "Mahnverfahren" - a summary procedure seeking an order to pay a debt - was developed to facilitate the enforcement of uncontested monetary claims. The application for the proceedings is made either on a standard paper form or in an electronic form at the local ordinary courts (Amtsgerichte). The applicant does not have to be represented by a lawyer. If the defendant does not contest within two weeks, the court will issue a writ of execution and the order can be enforced without a full trial. If the defendant does contest, a normal trial will be conducted in the competent court.

Although the German "Mahnverfahren" makes it easier to enforce uncontested debts, language barriers, differing legal systems, and the high costs of proper legal advice still make it difficult to pursue such matters across the borders of other European countries. To eliminate these obstacles, the European order for payment procedure simplifies cross-border enforcement procedures within the European Union (except for Denmark). The application form contains all the information needed for the procedures in the relevant EU Member States and is translated into all EU languages. If the conditions for applying for the order have been met, the court will issue the order usually within 30 days. The defendant has an additional 30 days to contest the order. If it is not contested, the order can be directly enforced without the need to have it recognized by the other national authorities through the exequatur procedure, this being the procedure that must be carried out to enforce judgments, awards, etc. made pursuant to conventional judicial proceedings.

The German "Urkundenprozess" is a summary procedure (for claiming a specified sum) that relies entirely on documentary evidence and the examination of the parties. These proceedings are therefore very quick and the judgments rendered pursuant to them are usually handed down within a few weeks. However, should the plaintiff realize before the final judgment has been delivered that additional evidence is necessary, ordinary trial proceedings may still be instituted without the defendant's consent.

Similar to the "documentary-evidence procedure", the uniform European small claims procedure simplifies and expedites the cross-border litigation of claims below ¤ 2000 within the EU (except for Denmark) by standardizing the procedure. The procedure is based on standard written-forms exchanged between the litigants and takes a maximum of (approximately) two months to be completed. A judgment rendered pursuant to a European small claims procedure is recognized and enforceable anywhere in the European Union (except for Denmark) without the need for a declaration of enforceability.