Neighbor law / Neighbor protection; Dispute resolution

Trees and shrubs, habits, noises, cats, dogs, and last but not least, of course, children: there are many causes for a neighborhood community to turn into a full-blown dispute. Many paths lead back to peaceful coexistence. And for many cases, there are clear regulations.

The arbitration office—operating as an honorary, volunteer position—has been established for the resolution of disputes in neighbor law matters (i.e., civil legal disputes). The arbitration office should always be involved when the measures taken by the responsible specialized office (for example, the building code authority, regulatory authority) are insufficient and the situation between neighbors threatens to escalate.

Furthermore, the Out-of-Court Dispute Resolution Act stipulates that in neighbor law disputes, a lawsuit may only be filed in court if the parties have previously consulted a so-called conciliation body and attempted to reach an agreement there. Conciliation bodies in this sense are, on the one hand, arbitration offices (Schiedsämter). On the other hand, lawyers can be recognized as conciliation bodies. Of course, they can only act as a conciliation body in a neighbor law dispute if they are not themselves representing one of the parties as legal counsel.