© Marcel Geibel/ Commercial Court Frankfurt

Jurisdiction at a Glance

The Commercial Court and the Commercial Chambers have jurisdictions for commercial disputes exceeding EUR 500,000, in particular in the areas of commercial law, company acquisitions/M&A, directors' and officers' liability and banking law.

This does not apply to certain proceedings for which special jurisdiction exists, such as construction and architectural law, insolvency law, investment law and actions challenging a corporate resolution.

The following applies in detail:

Amount in dispute: EUR 500,000 or more

Subject area:

  • civil disputes between entrepreneurs (§ 14 Civil Code)
  • company acquisitions/M&A
  • directors' and officers' liability

The Commercial Court and the Commercial Chambers have jurisdictions for commercial disputes exceeding EUR 500,000, in particular in the areas of

1. commercial matters

insofar as these are commercial matters within the meaning of Section 95 (1) nos. 1 and 4 letters a, b and d of the German Courts Constitution Act

The following are excluded:

(a) disputes arising from capital investment law,

(b) disputes within the meaning of Section 119a (1) Nos. 2 to 7 of the German Courts Constitution Act,

(c) disputes determined by statutory order pursuant to Section 119a (2) sentence 1 of the German Courts Constitution Act for other civil senates;

2. Disputes arising from or in connection with the acquisition of a company or shares in a company pursuant to Section 119b (1) sentence 1 no. 2 of the Courts Constitution Act,

3. Disputes between a company and members of the management body or supervisory board pursuant to Section 119b (1) of the Courts Constitution Act,