Remedies

This is a public-law dispute if the subject matter of the dispute is to be clarified between competent authorities and service providers.

The Authority shall attach a notice of appeal to its administrative decision. This notice of appeal contains information on whether and how the administrative decision can be dealt with. The main formal remedies are the opposition and the action before the administrative court. If the administrative decision has not been accompanied by information on the means of redress, the means of redress may be requested from the competent authority. Alternatively, these can also be taken from the relevant procedural law. Special deadlines may have to be taken into account.

The result of the opposition is that the competent authority re-examines the contested decision and communicates the result to the opponent in a notice of opposition.

An action may be brought before the competent administrative court against administrative decisions for which an opposition procedure is not provided for or against a notice of opposition. The action brings about a decision by the competent court. The applicant’s concern (for example, the annulment of an administrative act or the omission/producing of an administrative act) determines the nature of the action. Detailed information on the action can be found on Justizportal NRW. Further information can be found on the website of the [Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection] (https://www.bmj.de/DE/themen/themen_node.html).

In urgent cases, it is also possible to request an urgent decision from the court in order to temporarily secure an endangered right. Further information on this procedure can be found on the website of the [Justizportal NRW] (https://www.justiz.nrw.de/).

The procedures for redress are laid down in the relevant rules. State-specific legislation can be found on the website “recht.nrw.de” of the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia.
[Information on national legislation can be found here] (https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/).

Further information on, inter alia, the structure of the jurisdictions can be found on the [Justice Portal of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia] (https://www.justiz.nrw.de/). Explanations of individual technical terms are described under the heading [‘Right from A to Z’] (https://www.justiz.nrw.de/BS/recht_a_z/index.php).

Civil law regulates disputes between equal natural and/or legal persons under private law. In the first place, civil law includes general private law, which is predominantly regulated in the Civil Code (BGB). It covers the following areas of law:

• General part (e.g. legal capacity
• Law of obligations (e.g. contract of sale, work and service)
• Property law (e.g. purchase of land)
• Family law (e.g. marriage)
• Inheritance law (e.g. regulation of the testator)

In addition, the Product Liability Act (ProdHG), the Housing Property Act (WEG) and the Civil Partnership Act (LPartG) are also attributed to civil law.

Special private law refers to areas of law that are only applicable to a limited group of persons. These include, but are not limited to:

• Commercial and Company Law (HGB, GmbHG, AktienG)
• Labour law (regulation of rights between employer and employee)
• Competition law (e.g. antitrust law, trademark law)
• Private international law (regulation of the application of national law in the event of a conflict of laws)

The assertion of civil disputes takes place in the civil courts (ordinary jurisdictions). The procedure is governed by the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO). Depending on the value of the dispute, either the local court (AG) or the regional court (LG) has jurisdiction at first instance. The Landgericht (Regional Court) or the Oberlandesgericht (Higher Regional Court) (OLG) are competent in second instance and, most recently, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH). In addition, the labour courts are a separate jurisdiction. An overview of ordinary and labour jurisdictions can be found here (https://www.justiz.nrw.de/BS/wege_justiz/index.php#2).

As a rule, the domicile of the debtor determines the territorial jurisdiction of the courts. Detailed information on the procedure of civil proceedings can be found on the website of the [Justizportal NRW] (https://www.justiz.nrw.de/).

The court order for payment procedure offers the possibility to enforce the right to payment of a monetary claim in a simplified manner. Further information on the procedure can be found here.

Insofar as the court proceedings cannot be financed by own resources, it is possible, under certain conditions, to apply for legal aid from the court (https://www.justiz.nrw.de/BS/lebenslagen/verwaltungsrecht/pkh_text/pkh/index.php).

Extrajudicial dispute resolution is also possible. Further information can be found here.

Civil disputes can also be resolved through mediation. This procedure is described here.

[Information on consumer protection and contact points can be found here] (https://www.justiz.nrw/BS/consumer protection/index.php).

In addition to the respective technical laws, the following procedural rules must be observed in court proceedings:

• In the case of public-law disputes, the Administrative Court Code (VwGO) and the Administrative Procedure Act (VwVfG)
• In civil disputes, the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO)
• In the case of labour disputes, the Labour Court Act (ArbGG)
• In the case of social court disputes, the Tenth Book of the Social Code (SGB X) and the Social Court Act (SGG)
• In tax disputes, the Tax Code (AO) and the Tax Court Code (FGO)