On January 1, 2025, the revised Civil Procedure Code (ZPO) will come into force, allowing courts to use video and, exceptionally, telephone conferences in civil proceedings.
According to Articles 141a and 141b nZPO, the courts can now, under certain conditions, carry out oral proceedings (in particular negotiations, hearings and interviews) by means of video conference and, in exceptional cases, by telephone conference. Under certain conditions, witness interviews, reports or party interviews are also possible via video conference. The technical requirements as well as data protection and data security requirements are determined by a Federal Council regulation. The consultation on the draft of this regulation was opened at the meeting on February 14, 2024 and runs until May 22, 2024.
The regulation also specifies the measures that the court can take as part of the process management to ensure orderly proceedings during a video or telephone conference. In order to ensure adequate data protection and sufficient data security when using electronic means, the regulation sets specific requirements for the transmission of sound and images and for data processing during and after transmission. Furthermore, the system used must be configured in such a way that these requirements can be met. In addition, additional precautions will be taken to ensure that the data of all those involved is adequately protected both during the preparation and execution of the procedural action. In particular, it should be ensured that no unauthorized third parties can gain access to the video or telephone conference and follow the proceedings. Certain requirements for recording sound and images are also specified. Finally, the requirements and procedures are also regulated if the public is to be granted access to sound and image transmission.
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