Renewed plans for a new online procedure for civil proceedings in Germany – the first real-world laboratory procedure in the German justice system

The German justice system is continuing to become more digital. One of the further planned innovations to achieve this is a proposal by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz, BMJV) to introduce a new online procedure for civil proceedings. As the legislative process was not completed in the previous parliamentary term, a new attempt is being made with the recently published draft bill for a law on the development and testing of an online procedure in civil proceedings. With the new procedure, payment claims with lower amounts in dispute can be litigated fully digitally – more or less initiated at the click of a mouse.

This will initially only be possible at selected courts for a limited period of time. It is also possible to establish centralised online courts that cover multiple districts and Federal States (Bundesländer). The new law provides for the first time a so-called “real-world laboratory” procedure, which will be used to test the new procedure in pilot courts under real conditions on a temporary basis. The aim is to assess how innovations in procedural law are received in practice so that any insights can be used for permanent regulation.

The next step is for the draft law on the new online procedure to be discussed in the German parliament (Bundestag).

What is the new online procedure?

The online procedure is intended to provide an additional type of procedure for payment claims within the jurisdiction of the local courts, which are currently responsible for claims up to EUR 5,000. The BMJV mainly focused on mass proceedings as they generate a considerable amount of work for the courts. Since from January 2026 onwards, the BMJV also plans to extend the jurisdiction of the local courts to claims with an amount in dispute up to EUR 10,000, the scope of application for the new online procedure could soon be even greater.

In contrast to the already existing summary proceeding for a payment order (Mahnverfahren), which can also be used to assert payment claims by submitting official forms online, the new online procedure is a “proper” contentious proceeding in which the court examines the merits of the claim (by taking evidence, etc.).

In general, actions under the new procedure must be filed electronically, using a new digital communication platform or via the entry systems already provided for in the Code of Civil Procedure (in particular the special electronic mailbox for lawyers beA). Other applications or declarations may also be submitted via data entry systems, the use of which may be made compulsory by the court under certain conditions. However, if the proceedings involve natural persons without legal representation, the parties can continue to submit applications and statements to the court in writing.

Furthermore, the court may order the parties to structure their submissions digitally (e.g. by setting up data entry fields in digital forms to the respective matter in dispute). In suitable cases and if none of the parties expressly requests an oral hearing, the court may pass a judgment without conducting a hearing. If a hearing takes place, it shall be conducted remotely via video link, and, with the consent of the parties, telephone conferences and other suitable digital communication methods may also be permitted. The court may also take evidence using suitable digital means of communication. Finally, the oral delivery of the judgment may be replaced by the delivery of an electronic document.

Minor changes to the last draft in substance

Compared to the previous coalition's draft, only minor changes have been made in substance. Notably, a separate provision has been added for a default judgment in online proceedings.

What does the BMJV want to achieve?

According to the BMJV, the objectives of the new online procedure remain the same:

• meet the public's expectations in an increasingly digitalised world by establishing a modern, easy-to-access, user-friendly and barrier-free procedure through which people can contact the courts digitally and thereby improving equal access to justice;
• make civil proceedings cheaper as an online procedure will only incur 2/3 of the court fees for conventional proceedings;
• save the judiciary time and resources by using digital tools to help structure submissions and process case materials so that standardised tasks can be completed more quickly (the BMJV hopes that this will save around 20 per cent of the time);
• offer digital technologies also tailored to lawyers, in particular for the transmission of structured data sets; and
• test the new procedure under real-life conditions and on a nationwide basis in order to prepare a later rollout across all Federal States.

Our assessment – risks and opportunities

The proposed new online procedure is a welcome step towards the greater digitalisation of civil court proceedings in Germany. It is particularly noteworthy that the new procedural steps and the technical tools are to be tested on a nationwide basis despite the fact that in Germany the Federal States are responsible for the administration of the judiciary. This shows the political will to avoid a patchwork of different legal tech applications in the 16 Federal States. The actual success of the online procedure, however, will depend on several factors:

First, it is essential that all digital tools are secure and allow for an uninterrupted transmission of data, especially when introducing sensitive, non-public information. This must apply both for the digital platforms provided by the courts and to the digital set-up of the parties. 

Second, the online procedure will only be used in practice and establish itself as a resource-saving alternative to conventional proceedings if it is user-friendly. This holds particularly true as it is not mandatory for parties to be represented by a lawyer at local court level. User-friendliness also requires that the online procedure enables structured processing of procedural material from the beginning in order to effectively use legal tech tools in the course of the proceeding.

Third, and most importantly, the proposed online procedure must guarantee both parties the same procedural rights as in conventional proceedings, in particular the right to be heard. The objective of making the procedure efficient should not lead to an approach where strict requirements to structure the information provided to the courts prevent the parties from presenting the facts they consider necessary to substantiate their case and to bring forward their legal arguments. Even in a mass claim situation, the assessment of the circumstances of the individual case is key. From our experience, it is not possible to handle all claims with a “one size fits all” approach.

The BMJV has proposed evaluations after four and eight years of the trial phase, as well as ongoing user research through surveys. Following the evaluation, we will know whether the proposed online procedure has stood the test of time in the real-life laboratory.