DIS Stuttgart: Recent German Supreme Court Decisions in Arbitration Matters

14 November 2024, Stuttgart

Drawing from his extensive appellate practice in arbitration cases, Gottfried Hammer provided practical advice on preparing and conducting appellate proceedings before the BGH. He also highlighted three significant areas addressed in recent case law:

• Inadmissibility of intra-EU ICSID arbitrations: The BGH followed the approach previously taken by the European Court of Justice, also dealing with complex questions of international jurisdiction and procedural admissibility, as demonstrated in the Uniper v. Netherlands case (BGH, I ZB 74/22).
• Signature requirements for arbitral awards: The BGH declared an arbitral award to be valid under Section 1054 of the German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) even though the signature of one arbitrator was missing, which was explained in the award only with the remark “signature could not be obtained” (BGH, I ZB 34/23).
• Arbitrator bias and disclosure obligations: Key considerations when arbitrators fail to disclose potential conflicts of interest were discussed (Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt, 26 Sch 8/18, where the appeal to the BGH was withdrawn shortly before the BGH was to consider the case).

The insightful event, chaired by the regional coordinators Claudia Krapfl and Roland Kläger, attracted considerable interest from legal practitioners, judges, and in-house counsel in the Stuttgart area. A reception hosted by Haver & Mailänder provided attendees with an opportunity to continue the discussion in a more informal setting.

Roland Kläger
 

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