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The (second) ordinance amending the Ordinance on Jurisdiction of June 3, 2025 (GV. NRW 2025 No. 27 of June 17, 2025, p. 507 ff.), the statewide jurisdictions of the Higher Regional Courts of Hamm and Cologne were expanded as of July 1, 2025. At the same time, a new judicial focus is being established at...

The EU Battery Regulation ((EU) 2023/1542), which came into force on August 17, 2023, has been partly applicable since February 18, 2024. Companies are undoubtedly confronted with a complex piece of legislation that requires both entrepreneurial and legal insight. The practical challenges are multilayered. Overview of the Regulation’s subject matter The Battery Regulation is intended...

The European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) recently ruled in its judgment of March 5, 2024 (case C-588/21 P) that EU citizens have a right of free access to (certain) harmonized European standards towards the European Commission if these standards define specific safety requirements for products or services. Specifically, the case at issue concerned technical standards...

If shares in a limited liability company (“GmbH”) are redeemed, the shareholder concerned must protect himself against the loss of his shares and voting rights. A current decision by the Berlin Court of Appeal (“KG Berlin”) reminds of that. Facts of the case: Redemption of shares The decision of the KG Berlin is based on...

In its judgment of August 1, 2023 (case no. VI ZR 82/22), the 6th Civil Senate of the German Federal Court of Justice (“BGH”) dismissed the appeal against the manufacturer in proceedings concerning alleged manufacturing, design and instruction errors in connection with the breakage of the ceramic inlay of a hip prosthesis and, moreover, confirmed (for...

An economic operator whose rights are adversely affected by an incomplete RAPEX notification may request the competent authorities of the notifying member state to complete the notification. To this end, he must have a legal remedy in the notifying member state to ensure that the obligations incumbent on that member state in this respect are...

The highest court of the European Union, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”), has ruled in its current judgment of March 21, 2023 (Case No. C-100/21) that buyers may have a claim for damages even if manufacturers have only acted negligently in using an unauthorized defeat device installed in the vehicle, meaning that they are...