Digitization and civil procedure in Germany

ABSTRACT Despite being widely regarded as a highly industrialized nation, Germany has progressed extremely slowly in civil procedure digitization. Notwithstanding the digital reform initiative launched under the German Civil Procedure Code (ZPO) in 2002, digital technologies remain underutilized in judicial practice. In 2013, ZPO incorporated provisions on electronic legal communication, yet encountered substantial reform resistance in a decade. From 2022, using an electronic filing system gradually became compulsory for lawyers and judges, but it was still unable to improve litigation efficiency due to the lack of technical proficiency of the legal profession. COVID-19 pandemic has compelled German judges to conduct virtual court hearings via videoconference pursuant to ZPO §128a. However, in reality, virtual court hearings still face numerous legal and practical restrictions and hindrances. Based on lessons from real experience, the Federal Ministry of Justice proposed updates to the video hearing rules in November 2022 and May 2023. These proposals focused on conditions for the application of video conference, whether or not to allow a fully virtual hearing without judges in the courtroom, online examination of witnesses and cross-border virtual court hearings. In 2024, legislators generally accepted proposals from the Ministry of Justice but adopted a more compromised and cautious attitude, which indicates that the digital reform of German Civil Procedure remains an uphill battle.