The German government wants to enable online-only court proceedings in certain civil law cases. According to the Federal Ministry of Justice, the draft law passed by the cabinet on Wednesday provides for this option for lawsuits aimed at the payment of a sum of money. The procedure will initially be tested at selected local courts once the legislative process has been completed.
In these cases, it should be possible to file a lawsuit using digital input systems. The plaintiffs are to be supported by query dialogs. The free My Judicial Mailbox (Mein Justizpostfach) service is to be offered for this purpose. Lawyers are to be included via the existing infrastructure of the electronic lawyers' mailbox.
An amendment to the Code of Civil Procedure is intended to make it easier to conduct proceedings without an oral hearing or by expanding video hearings, initially for the trial phase. There are also plans to simplify evidence proceedings. Instead of pronouncing a judgment, it should be possible to serve it digitally with legal effect.
“This will result in potential relief for case processing at the courts,” explained the Federal Ministry of Justice. Possible areas of application are primarily so-called mass proceedings, such as claims in the area of air passenger rights. Court fees are to be reduced for online proceedings in order to make them economically attractive.
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