Video hearings from the bedroom

On 15 November 2023, the Bundestag's Legal Affairs Committee adopted an amended version of the federal government's draft law "to promote the use of video conferencing technology in civil jurisdiction and specialist jurisdictions": It is now envisaged that the judge may conduct the video hearing "from a location other than the court venue" (Section 128a (6) ZPO-E), i.e. the judge may remain at home if all parties to the proceedings are online. The public will be able to participate directly in the video conference via stream - initially only at some courts for testing purposes.

If even just one of the lawyers involved submits an application to hold a video hearing, the court should now generally also order this. If the presiding judge rejects an application for a video hearing, this decision must be justified in future - not only in a formal letter, but also on a case-by-case basis and can be contested.

The new regulations will also apply to civil, administrative and financial court hearings. Labour and social courts, on the other hand, will be largely excluded - here, the previous regulations will essentially be retained (Source: BRAK communications from 16/11/2023 https://www.brak.de/newsroom/news/videoverhandlungen-richter-im-homeoffice-und-videostreams-fuer-alle)

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