Jurisdiction

Sample clause: “Hanover shall be the venue for all legal disputes arising from this contract”.

Under certain circumstances, it is possible to agree upon a (territorial and subject-matter) jurisdiction of a court. The above mentioned sample clause contains only an agreement as to territorial jurisdiction, this being the most typical jurisdiction clause.

It has to be pointed out, however, that an agreement as to jurisdiction is generally inadmissible (§ 38 of the Code of Civil Procedure, Zivilprozessordnung)! Thus, it is not permitted to agree upon jurisdiction with a consumer. This can be done only in case of fully qualified merchants (under German Commercial Code) or public-law entities.