International Business Law

It must be clear to the investor that he is now moving outside the German legal territory to a foreign or different legal system, with different applicable law and different jurisdictions than in Germany. Due to the harmonisation within Europe, the first question to be asked is whether I am moving within the European Union or outside. In the European Union, many legal problems that have repeatedly led to problems in the past have been solved. For example, it is basically permissible for every citizen from one EU state to acquire real estate in another EU state. There are exceptions to this rule if particularly popular regions of Europe restrict in particular the acquisition of second homes (vacation homes). These rules may be different in non-European countries. In any case, it is advisable to seek advice through a German lawyer who has been in contact with this particular country and has also familiarized himself with the courts and lawyers practicing there. Because regardless of language barriers, the right contact with the right authorities and the right colleagues saves a lot of time and money.

In principle, lawyers, including those who are active in international legal relations, are admitted to practice in one country and practice only in that country. We recommend that, within the scope of an attorney cooperation with a German lawyer and the corresponding colleague from the target country, the entire spectrum of advice should be covered. Colleagues on site, not only have better contacts to the individual authorities, but can usually, due to many years of experience, ensure better enforceability than from the location Germany there. This applies not only to non-European countries, but also to European countries, as experience has shown. Unfortunately, language barriers still play an important role in this context, since English is recognized worldwide as the language of communication, but correspondence with the relevant courts must be conducted in their native language. In Germany, the language of the courts is German, even though there are already efforts to be able to conduct court proceedings before German courts in English on the basis of German law. The aim is to make Germany even more attractive as a business location.

The answer to this question depends on the correct place of jurisdiction and the applicable law. As a rule, a foreign investor (in this case the German investor) can sue in the country in question if the applicable law refers to this country (applicable law) and in particular (more importantly) the venue for a possible lawsuit is located in this country. In principle, it is possible for a foreign court to apply German or non-native law, as for example German courts do if the venue is in Germany but the applicable law is foreign law. For the purposeful pursuit of these claims, we recommend our involvement with correspondence with the foreign colleagues, since they have not only been admitted to the corresponding courts abroad, but also have experience that they can handle the practical implementation of such claims better and faster. Due to the increasing internationalization in the last decades, the contacts among the lawyers in the different countries have improved in such a way that, through mutual understanding of the jurisdictions, the applicable law and the peculiarities in this country, legal proceedings can be conducted across borders much faster than in the past. Especially on a European level, enforcement agreements under European law now make it possible for anyone who has once obtained a judgment against another business partner to enforce this title without any major problems with the help of the courts in other European countries. This leads to more legal confidence and more legal security. In non-European legal disputes, it is more appropriate to use arbitration courts instead of state courts.