The Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection has presented a draft law to modernize arbitration law, aiming to strengthen Germany as an international arbitration venue.

The proposals include the possibility of conducting arbitration hearings via video, issuing arbitral awards electronically, and greater flexibility in the form of arbitration agreements, although arbitration agreements must still be capable of being documented for evidentiary purposes.

To enhance international competitiveness, certain proceedings before state courts may also be held in English. In particular, before Commercial Courts established in some federal states and the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), annulment, recognition, and enforcement proceedings may, under certain conditions, be conducted in English. In addition, easier publication of arbitral awards is planned to increase transparency and acceptance, while safeguarding trade secrets.

A similar draft law was already presented in the previous legislative period, but it was not passed due to the early end of that legislature. It remains to be seen whether the legislative initiative, currently at the stage of a ministerial draft, will ultimately be carried through.

The draft law, published on 27 January 2026, and a synopsis of the arbitration law in German are available at the following link: https://www.bmjv.de/SharedDocs/Gesetzgebungsverfahren/DE/2026_Modernisierung_Schiedsverfahrensrecht.html