In two webinars, the DIS discussed with its members and the interested (arbitration) public the Federal Ministry of Justice's Draft Bill on the Modernisation of Arbitration Law.
The first webinar took place on 22 February 2024 in German and the second webinar on 26 February 2024 in English. The DIS had previously asked its members and the broader community what they thought of the proposed provisions.
Both in the survey and in the lively discussions, the freedom of form for arbitration agreements in commercial transactions was the most controversial proposal. The draft provision that received the most support was the one that would allow the submission of English-language documents without translation in proceedings pursuant to section 1062(1) of the German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO). Interestingly, the topics discussed in the two webinars differed significantly.
We would like to thank everyone who took part in the webinar and contributed actively. Special thanks go to Gisela Knuts for her valuable international perspectives on the Draft Bill and to Wolfram Buchwitz and Richard Happ for triggering discussions.
Based on the survey and the discussions from the webinars, the DIS prepared its statement to the Draft Bill on the Modernisation of Arbitration Law and submitted it to the Federal Ministry of Justice on 14 March 2024.
Reinmar Wolff