ОVERVIEW OF SOME QUESTIONS OF THE ENFORCEMENT OF CIVIL AND COMMERCIAL JUDGMENTS IN GERMANY

Abstract

Оn the basis of the analysis of the provisions of German legislation, the following aspects of enforcement of judgement in Germany are considered: legal sources of enforcement of judgements; general preconditions for enforcement proceedings; initiation of enforcement proceedings only on the request of the creditor; deadlines for the compulsory enforcement of court decisions; authorities in charge of the enforcement procedure; the status of bailiffs and their relationship with judges and other state bodies; judicial remedies in the enforcement proceedings; the arrest of bank accounts and the effectiveness of the enforcement procedure of judgement in Germany. It is noted that in Germany court decisions are enforced not only by bailiffs. There are also so called “execution courts”. The execution courts are not independent courts, but subdivisions of the district courts dealing exclusively with issues of compulsory enforcement proceedings. Other competent authorities are a) the first instance court that pronounced the judgement which have to be enforced, and b) the Land Regiser. The tasks of the execution courts are executed not only by judges but also by employees of the court who have received a special three-year legal education (Rechtspfleger). Bailiffs act independently in relation to the parties and independently check the permissibility of the enforcement of judgements. Judges can not give them specific instructions as to when and how the judgement should be enforced.