Information - Services - Formalities by subjects - Legal remedies and suggestions - Legal remedies in administrative proceedings - Civil proceedings before the district court; information on the appellate instance - Dienstleistungsportal Bayern

Description

You can appeal against the civil judgments of the district courts if the appeal sum of €600 is exceeded or if the district court has allowed the appeal in the judgment. The district court is responsible for the appeal procedure against civil judgments of the district court. In some special proceedings (in particular family cases), an appeal is allowed against final decisions of the district court instead of an appeal, for which the Higher Regional Court is responsible.

The appeal proceedings are similar to the proceedings in the first instance. The court of appeal reviews the facts of the case once again in detail and comprehensively in terms of fact and law. In doing so, however, it must base its hearing and decision on the facts established by the court of first instance, unless specific indications give rise to doubts about the facts established by the court of first instance or new facts are established, the consideration of which, however, is only permissible in exceptional cases.

In certain cases, a third and final instance, the appellate instance, can still be appealed against the appellate judgment of the regional court. However, the appellate court no longer decides on the factual arguments of the parties, but only examines whether the appellate court failed to apply the law or applied it incorrectly or violated procedural rules.

Prerequisites

An appeal against a civil judgment of the district court is possible if the appeal sum is exceeded or the appeal was expressly permitted in the judgment. The appeal is admissible if it is filed with the appellate court by a lawyer(attorney-client privilege).

Deadlines

The time limit for appeal is one month. It shall commence upon service of the judgment in full, but no later than five months after delivery. After expiry of the time limit, the judgment shall be final.

Forms

• Form, Bavaria-wide: Antrag auf Prozesskostenhilfe

  Please note

  This form has to be signed and sent to the responsible authority. You can sign the form manually and send it by email/fax or sign the form electronically with your qualified electronic signature an send it by (secure) email. If the responsible authority has set up a De-Mail account, you can also send the form by De-Mail using an sender-confirmed message.

  Erklärung über die persönlichen und wirtschaftlichen Verhältnisse/Anlage zum Antrag auf Bewilligung der Prozesskostenhilfe (bundeseinheitliches Formular)

Fees

• If the lawsuit is ended by a judgment, the judge also decides which party has to bear the costs of the lawsuit. The principle applies that the unsuccessful party bears the costs of the legal dispute. The costs of a legal dispute are made up of court costs (fees and expenses) and out-of-court costs (primarily attorney's fees). The court costs are levied in accordance with a list of costs and are generally based on the importance of the case, the so-called amount in dispute.
  
  The costs of an unsuccessful appeal shall be borne by the party who lodged it.
  A party who, in view of his or her personal and economic circumstances, cannot afford the costs of the legal proceedings, or can only afford them in part or in installments, shall be granted legal aid upon his or her application if the intended legal action or legal defense offers sufficient prospect of success and does not appear to be wilful. The application may either be made in writing to the court before which the case is to be brought or be made on the record before the court registry. The application may also be submitted as an electronic document with a qualified electronic signature or by secure means of transmission pursuant to Section 130a (4) of the Code of Civil Procedure (for example, via the court homepage using the BayernID) with a simple signature. Furthermore, the application can be filed during the oral proceedings. There is no requirement to be represented by a lawyer for the application for legal aid.

Legal bases

• Zivilprozessordnung (ZPO)
• Gerichtskostengesetz (GKG)

Links to more information

• Bayerisches Staatsministerium der Justiz