New Draft Bill for the Modernisation of Arbitration Law – Statement of the DIS

The Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection published a draft bill for an Act on the Modernisation of Arbitration Law on 27 January 2026. This is the second attempt at enacting this draft bill: , A previous attempt in the 20th legislative period could not be completed before the session ended. 

The new draft bill largely builds on previous drafts and is available here.

The DIS was given the opportunity to comment on the new draft bill. As with previous drafts, the DIS Board discussed the bill with DIS members in a two-hour webinar on 13 February 2026. The lively discussion focused on the formal requirements for arbitration agreements (Section 1031(1) ZPO-E) and the introduction of regulations for emergency arbitrators. Jan-Michael Ahrens (Siemens), Alice Broichmann (Kröck), Sabrina Streicher (BASF) and Mathias Wittinghofer (Gowling WLG) provided input and managed the discussion.

In its final statement dated 27 February 2026, the DIS Board welcomed the modernisation of well-established German arbitration law through a minor reform. This will not only further improve German arbitration law, it also provides an opportunity to attract more international attention to Germany as an arbitration venue. It is therefore an important part of the overall strategy to promote Germany as such.