Good advice

Criticism of the diversity of programs and opinions of public broadcasters does not justify an exemption from the obligation to pay the broadcasting fee. This was declared by the Bavarian Administrative Court (BayVGH, AZ: 7 BV 22.2642). In this case, a plaintiff from the district of Rosenheim had previously challenged the obligation to pay the broadcasting contribution on the basis of an alleged "structural failure of the public...

The phone rings and an unknown voice asks, for example: "Guess who it is?". The victim, often an elderly person, makes a guess and the perpetrator slips into the appropriate role, often as a grandson. Using this basis of trust, the supposed grandson tells the victim about a planned house purchase for which a deposit is urgently needed and asks the grandmother or grandfather to...

The placement of an ATM on a public sidewalk does not have to be approved. This was decided by the Berlin Administrative Court (VG 1 K 342.18 and VG 1 K 98.19). A company that operates ATMs throughout Germany had installed an ATM in front of an apartment building in Prenzlauer Berg. This was prohibited by the Pankow district authority due to the lack of a special...

Munich Regional Court I has ruled that the film operator GmbH (defendant) must vacate and surrender a cinema in the center of Munich (case no. 34 O 7322/20). The decision is based on the lease agreement from 1956, which was transferred to the defendant in 2006. The cinema in question is part of a property owned by a fractional community. The plaintiff owns 80...

Customers of the insolvent energy supplier BEV are still entitled to the promised new customer bonus. This was decided by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) (IX ZR 267/20). In this case, the insolvency administrator no longer wanted to grant the new customer bonus in full after the company filed for insolvency in 2019. The Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) filed a model declaratory action against this...

A review mechanism for foreign investments that prohibits the acquisition of regional companies classified as strategic by foreign groups is not compatible with European Union law. The European Court of Justice recently came to this conclusion (ECJ, C-106/22). In the case at hand, the Hungarian concrete element manufacturer Xella...

The Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main (OLG) recently ruled that restaurant owners cannot be held responsible for recognizable unevenness on their patio areas. In the case in question, a guest tripped on a natural stone terrace after leaving the toilet and injured himself. He sued for damages and compensation for pain and suffering. However, the...

The Frankfurt am Main Higher Regional Court (OLG) recently ordered the city to pay damages of 6,500 euros for neglecting to maintain and inspect a street tree (case reference: 1 U 310/20). In this case, a broken branch had caused total damage to a Fiat 500 in a residential area. The OLG ruled that the city was liable for the damage due to inadequate inspection.

Noise caused by dogs in a dog playground in a residential area is reasonable as long as it does not exceed the applicable immission guide values. This was decided by the Berlin Administrative Court (VG 24 K 148.19). A resident had complained about noise pollution and the alleged use of the dog playground outside of the specified opening hours, which was operated by the Lichtenberg district office in...

The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig has declared the resident parking fee statutes of the city of Freiburg im Breisgau invalid (case no.: BVerwG 9 CN 2.22). The ruling concerns the statute that came into force on December 14, 2021, which introduced a gradual parking fee structure based on vehicle length. Discounts for certain groups of people were also provided for. However, the BVerwG found that...