Commercial courts – what's new?

Since April 2025, certain legal disputes in several federal states can be heard before so-called commercial courts and commercial chambers. On July 1, 2025, Hesse became the seventh federal state, alongside Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg, and North Rhine-Westphalia, to establish specialized commercial courts. The federal states of Lower Saxony and Saxony have also announced the imminent introduction of commercial courts. Commercial courts can be an attractive alternative to arbitration and foreign courts, but a number of questions remain unanswered.

I. The judicial reform

For several years, legislators have been pursuing the goal of making Germany a more attractive location for commercial disputes. Particularly since the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union (EU) and the associated loss of London as a place of jurisdiction in the EU, legislators see potential for establishing state courts as an alternative to arbitration. Efforts to enact a corresponding law, which began in 2023 (see the expert article here), led to the Judicial Location Strengthening Act, which was passed on July 4, 2024, and entered into force on April 1, 2025.

As a result of the reform of the Courts Constitution Act (GVG), the federal states are now authorized to establish specialized senates at the higher regional courts (commercial courts) and chambers at the regional courts (commercial chambers) by means of a statutory order. Most recently, the Hessian legislature made use of this authorization and established two civil senates at the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main as commercial courts on July 1, 2025. In addition, three chambers for commercial matters and three civil chambers will be launched at the Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main as so-called commercial chambers.

II. What do commercial courts offer?

A key feature of commercial courts is the option of conducting proceedings in English. Furthermore, as is customary in arbitration proceedings, the parties can discuss and determine the course of the proceedings with the court in advance at an organizational meeting. This is intended to streamline the proceedings and make them more predictable.

The duration of proceedings is shortened in commercial courts. Decisions are not subject to appeal; the only legal remedy is an appeal to the Federal Court of Justice. Decisions of the commercial chambers may be appealed, usually to the commercial court at the respective higher regional court.

The jurisdiction of the commercial courts must be agreed upon by the parties. Commercial courts only have jurisdiction if the value of the dispute exceeds EUR 500,000. The commercial chambers may be called upon by plaintiffs with lower amounts in dispute.

III. What is heard before commercial courts and commercial chambers?

1. Commercial courts

The jurisdiction of commercial courts is determined by the federal states. In Section 119b (1) sentence 1 nos. 1-3 GVG, the legislature has regulated a catalog of areas of law, which, however, may be expanded or restricted by the federal states.

The regulations of the federal states have led to considerable differences in the specialization and organization of commercial courts. The Frankfurt Commercial Court, for example, focuses on commercial disputes between companies, disputes arising from or in connection with the acquisition of a company or shares in a company (post-M&A disputes), and disputes between companies and their organs. The Commercial Court at the Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart also only hears cases relating to corporate law.

The Commercial Court at the Berlin Court of Appeal, on the other hand, is only responsible for legal disputes in construction and architectural law, while the two Commercial Court senates at the Munich Higher Regional Court deal with supply chain issues and disputes between constitutional bodies. The senates at the Hamburg Commercial Court have a broad remit, covering construction law, banking and finance law, company law, and post-M&A disputes, as well as insurance law, transport law, shipping law, and traffic law. The Commercial Court in Bremen, officially known as the Hanseatic Commercial Court for Aerospace, Logistics and Maritime Trade, focuses on disputes in the freight, forwarding and warehousing industries, as well as aviation and transport. The Commercial Court planned at the Higher Regional Court in Celle, on the other hand, has no specialization.

2. Commercial Chambers

Differences between the federal states are also apparent in the commercial chambers. For example, the commercial chambers at the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court are responsible for the same disputes as the Commercial Court. In Bremen, on the other hand, there are no commercial chambers, even though there is a Commercial Court.

In addition to the Commercial Court in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia has established Commercial Chambers at regional courts in all three higher regional court districts, each with different specializations. The Commercial Chamber at the Regional Court of Düsseldorf is responsible for corporate law, the one in Cologne for IT disputes, and those in Bielefeld and Essen for renewable energies. Appeals against first-instance Commercial Chamber decisions are heard in all cases by the Higher Regional Court of Hamm.

IV. Initial practical experience

The commercial courts have had varying numbers of cases so far. The senates of the Commercial Court in Hamburg, which only opened in April, are already enjoying their first pending cases. The first senate had a general commercial case pending concerning the rescission of a purchase agreement. The second senate reported an insurance case concerning fidelity insurance. Otherwise, the commercial courts do not appear to have any cases pending. Due to the short existence of the commercial courts, no published decisions by these courts are known at this time.

V. Conclusion and outlook

The establishment of commercial courts is intended to make Germany a more attractive venue for large-scale legal disputes (including international ones). This is to be welcomed in principle. The fact that hearings and written submissions can be conducted in English is a great relief for companies from abroad. In addition, the commercial courts are staffed by experienced judges.

However, the large number of commercial courts and the fragmentation of jurisdiction among the many higher regional courts is likely to lead to uncertainty. Parties must carefully check which commercial court they agree as the place of jurisdiction to ensure that the subject matter of the contract falls within the jurisdiction of the respective commercial court. Provisions should also be made for the event that the list of courts with jurisdiction changes, particularly if the jurisdiction of a court is based on the special expertise (and English language skills) of individual judges. In this respect, arbitration has the advantage that the parties can choose the arbitrators themselves.

Arbitration is also likely to be preferable if the parties wish to conduct the dispute in private. Under the newly inserted Section 273a of the ZPO, proceedings before the Commercial Court may also be conducted in private, but only under more restrictive conditions.

It is unclear to what extent the federal states have coordinated their efforts to avoid divergent case law by commercial courts with the same jurisdiction. In any case, it would make sense for commercial courts to concentrate on specific areas, such as the Berlin Court of Appeal with construction and architectural law or Bremen with logistics.

Due to the short existence of commercial courts and the associated low number of proceedings, it is difficult to predict the acceptance of these new courts by the parties. The decision to agree on a commercial court or commercial chamber as the place of jurisdiction should always be preceded by a thorough examination.