Commercial Arbitration in Germany, by Richard Kreindler, Reinmar Wolff and Markus S. Rieder

Abstract

Commercial Arbitration in Germany , by Richard Kreindler, Reinmar Wolff and Markus S. Rieder, Oxford University Press, 2016. Commercial arbitration has a long tradition in Germany. Even the first version of the German Civil Procedure Code, the ZPO, enacted in 1879, contained fairly liberal rules on arbitration. Arbitration agreements were enforced as a matter of course and led to the exclusion of the jurisdiction of the state courts. The German Institution for Arbitration (DIS) has its roots back in 1922 and the so-called Hamburger Freundschaftliche Arbitrage , a commodity arbitration platform, also goes back centuries. In the second half of the 20th century, commercial arbitration was used more and more often in Germany in particular in the area of corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, industrial plants and, more recently, in the context of Private Public Partnerships (PPPs). Admittedly, there were some odd features under the old German arbitration law. But, in 1998, these old-fashioned features were eliminated when Germany adapted the UNCITRAL Model Law by implementing it into the 10th Chapter of the ZPO. Ever since, Germany has been recognized as an arbitration-friendly jurisdiction and has developed into a very active arbitration venue, both domestically and internationally. It is fair to say that today in Germany, in some industries and in certain types of contracts, arbitration clauses are the norm and no longer the exception. One can also observe that more and more international arbitration proceedings are taking place in Germany and that German case law on arbitration, coming from the various Courts of Appeal, has made important contributions to the body of arbitration law, as regularly reported in foreign legal journals and commentaries. Against this background, one must warmly welcome the … klaus.sachs{at}cms-hs.com