Jump to main content

Receipt of an e-mail

Receipt of an e-mail

The German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof - BGH) has ruled on an issue that is important for meeting deadlines and for concluding contracts.

In Germany, an e-mail is not deemed to have been received at the time when the recipient opens the e-mail and takes note of it, but at the time when the e-mail is available on the recipient's server (BGH, 6 October 2002, VII ZR 895/21). This means that the declaration of intent and the receipt are practically simultaneous, so that the provision on the possible revocation of the offer (Section 130 (1) Sentence 2 of the German Civil Code (BGB)) is only academic in electronic business transactions.