GERMANY’S NEW COMMERCIAL COURTS: A COST EFFECTIVE ALTERNATIVE TO ARBITRATION?
For decades, Germany’s commercial courts have played only a limited role in cross-border, high-stakes disputes dominated by arbitration and foreign litigation hubs.
As a result, for these types of high-profile disputes and legal matters, there are only few court precedents available in Germany and a limited development of the law. In response to this deficiency, on 1 April 2025, Germany’s Act to Strengthen the Judicial Venue for Litigation entered into force.
A core feature of the reform is the creation of specialised judicial bodies for complex commercial disputes: commercial courts at the German Higher Regional Courts (Oberlandesgerichte) and commercial chambers at the German Regional Courts (Landgerichte).
Federal states are responsible for establishing these specialised courts and chambers. While each state may establish only one commercial court, the number of commercial chambers states may establish is unlimited. These courts and chambers are tailored to handle complex, high-value and cross-border disputes.
They combine the option of English-language proceedings with panels of judges experienced in commercial matters and offer numerous dispute resolution tools – such as real-time hearing transcription, case management conferences, simultaneous interpretation facilities and procedural timetables – that are common in arbitral proceedings but new to litigation cases before German courts.
Taken together, these reforms recalibrate Germany’s civil justice framework and underscore the ambition to enhance the international competitiveness of its state courts in commercial dispute resolution.
For practitioners and businesses alike, the practical question is whether these courts will provide a credible and more cost-effective alternative to established international forums and arbitration.
Apr-Jun 2026 issue
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP