The exhaust gas fraud in the automotive industry, mass lawsuits and outstanding decisions by the highest court have been a major problem for the Baden-Württemberg judiciary for years. In order to deal with the rapidly growing number of cases, the courts are now being significantly strengthened. According to the plans of Justice Minister Marion Gentges (CDU), 40 new posts will be set up nationwide, 27 of them for judges and 14 others that would have been eliminated in the service area and are now being extended.
“The civil courts in Baden-Württemberg, especially those in Stuttgart, have been literally inundated by so-called diesel proceedings,” said Gentges. “And this wave is not ebbing, it continues to hit the courts in the country with great intensity.” The Stuttgart courts in particular benefit from the new staff. The regional court there will receive 17 new judges, the neighboring higher regional court will receive 5. The state parliament had approved the plans with the adoption of the budget for the coming year.
Every fourth method of exhaust fraud
According to the ministry, almost 65,000 cases of exhaust gas fraud have been filed in the civil courts in the country since 2018 and up to the third quarter of the current year. The district courts are also almost overwhelmed by the wave: since 2018, around every fourth incoming proceeding has been a diesel complaint. Often, however, it is precisely these procedures that are very extensive and, not least because of the small number of suitable experts, are difficult to clarify. Because the quota of appeals in the proceedings is above average, the higher regional courts are also being challenged, the ministry said.
The term diesel lawsuits primarily refers to cases in which car owners, among others, accuse Daimler of using impermissible exhaust technology and therefore demand compensation. In addition, there are numerous lawsuits from investors who are also demanding compensation from a car manufacturer in connection with the fraud affair. Stuttgart is more heavily burdened than any other court in Germany because Daimler AG is based there. On top of that, thousands of VW customers also file their lawsuits in Stuttgart, even though the company comes from Wolfsburg.
Diesel litigation and organized crime
“Especially because of the Diesel proceedings, but also in view of the extensive criminal proceedings against terror and organized crime, we urgently need this strengthening and the support of the budget legislator,” said OLG President Cornelia Horz and Andreas Singer, President of the District Court, with. In view of the flood of proceedings, it was no longer possible to deal with cases in a high-quality and timely manner.
The groaning of the Stuttgart court is not an isolated case: the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Karlsruhe also complained in the summer that it was not prepared for the incoming mass proceedings. At the Federal Court of Justice, as the next instance, an auxiliary senate takes care of “diesel matters”.
(Image: EPA
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(fpi)