Introduction of Commercial Courts in Germany

On 11 March 2025, the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia approved the legal basis for the establishment of a Commercial Court and several Commercial Chambers, thereby creating the basis for the introduction of new specialised courts in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The Commercial Courts are judicial bodies within the Higher Regional Courts (Oberlandesgerichte) that specialise in commercial disputes. The senates will decide certain commercial disputes at first instance and can conduct proceedings entirely in English. The law also allows certain commercial disputes that fall within the jurisdiction of the Regional Courts (Landgerichte) to be heard entirely in English at selected Regional Courts (Commercial Chambers). The federal states can and most likely will limit the subject areas of the commercial courts in order to achieve greater specialisation. This means, for example, that a commercial chamber may specialise exclusively in insurance disputes or disputes relating to mergers and acquisitions.

The parties can determine the jurisdiction of the commercial court primarily by means of an agreement (see Sect. 38 Civil Procedure Act), however the amount in dispute needs to be equal to or exceeds EUR 500,000.

North Rhine-Westphalia will make use of this option from April 2025: a Commercial Court will be set up at the Dusseldorf Higher Regional Court to hear disputes arising from corporate transactions, company law, construction law and insurance law. In addition, new Commercial Chambers will be established at the Regional Courts in Dusseldorf, Bielefeld, Essen and Cologne. Commercial disputes in the abovementioned areas will be heard there from an amount in dispute of EUR 5,000 or higher and if the parties choose English as the language of proceedings. At the same time, the already existing specialisation in renewable energy law (Bielefeld and Essen Regional Courts), disputes in the field of information technology (Cologne Regional Court) and corporate transactions (Dusseldorf Regional Court), will be extended to allow these proceedings also to be conducted in English.

The federal states of Hessen, Hamburg, Bavaria, Berlin and Baden-Wuerttemberg have also announced the introduction of Commercial Courts.

The introduction of Commercial Courts in Germany is an important step towards strengthening Germany as a jurisdiction for commercial parties to resolve their complex and international commercial disputes. Thanks to their specialisation and the possibility of conducting proceedings in English, these courts offer a modern and efficient solution for complex commercial disputes.