| INTRODUCTORY ACT TO THE CIVIL CODE |
“Full citation: In the version promulgated on 21 September 1994, Federal Law Gazette [Bundesgesetzblatt] I p. 2494, last amended by law of 12 April 2011, Federal Law Gazette I p. 615”
Translation provided by the Federal Ministry for Justice and Dr. Juliana Mörsdorf-Schulte LL.M. (Univ. of California, Berkeley) and reproduced with kind permission.
Table of Contents
First Part General Provisions
First Chapter Entry into force. Reserve for the law of a Land. Definition of Statute
Second Chapter Private International Law
FIRST SECTION GENERAL PROVISIONS
Art. 3 Scope; Relationship with rules of the European Community and with international conventions
Art. 3a Referral to substantive provisions; single statute
Art. 4 Renvoi; split law
Art. 5 Personal statute
Art. 6 Public policy (ordre public)
SECOND SECTION RIGHTS OF NATURAL PERSONS AND LEGAL TRANSACTIONS
Art. 7 Legal capacity and capacity to contract
Art. 8 [deleted]
Art. 9 Declaration of death
Art. 10 Name
Art. 11 Form of legal acts
Art. 12 Protection of the other party
THIRD SECTION FAMILY LAW
Art. 13 Marriage
Art. 14 General effects of marriage
Art. 15 Matrimonial property regime
Art. 16 Protection of third parties
Art. 17 Divorce
Art. 17a Marital home and household goods
Art. 17b Registered life partnership
Art. 18 Maintenance
Art. 19 Descent
Art. 20 Challenge of the descent
Art. 21 Effects of parent-child-relationship
Art. 22 Adoption
Art. 23 Consent
Art. 24 Guardianship, protective care and curatorship
FOURTH SECTION SUCCESSION
Art. 25 Succession
Art. 26 Dispositions mortis causa (wills)
FIFTH SECTION OBLIGATIONS
First Subsection Non-Contractual Obligations
Art. 27-37 [deleted, now see Rome I Regulation]
Art. 38 Unjust enrichment
Art. 39 Negotiorum gestio
Art. 40 Tort
Art. 41 Substantially closer connection
Art. 42 Choice of law by the parties
SIXTH SECTION PROPERTY
Art. 43 Rights in rem
Art. 44 Intromissions emanating from real property
Art. 45 Means of transport
Art. 46 Substantially closer connection
SEVENTH SECTION SPECIAL PROVISIONS IMPLEMENTING RULES OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY ACCORDING TO ARTICLE 3 No. 1
First Subsection Implementation of Regulation (EC) No. 864/2007
Art. 46a Environmental damage
Second Subsection Implementation of Regulation (EC) No. 593/2008
Art. 46b Consumer protection for particular areas
Art. 46c Compulsory insurance contracts
Third Chapter Adaptation
Art. 47 First and Family Names
(1) The Civil Code enters into force on January 1st, 1900, along with a statute concerning amendments to an Act on the Constitution of the Courts, the Code of Civil Procedure and the Code of Insolvency, a Statute on Compulsory Auction and Sequestration, a Code of Registration of Real Property, and a Statute on the Procedure of Non-Contentious Matters.
(2) Insofar as, in the Civil Code or in this Act, the regulation is reserved for the Statutes of a Land or insofar as it is ordered, that the provisions of the law of a Land remain unaffected or can be decreed, the existing provisions of the law of the Land will continue to be in force and the Land can decree new statutory provisions.
„Statute“ under the Civil Code and under this Act means any legal rule.
(1) Unless
1. immediately applicable rules of the European Community in their pertaining version, particularly
a) the Regulation (EC) No. 864/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 July 2007 (OJ EU L 199 of 31.7.2007 p. 40) on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations (Rome II), and
b) the Regulation (EC) No. 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 (OJ EU L 177 of 4.7. 2008 p. 6) on the law applicable to contractual obligations (Rome I), or
2. rules in international conventions, insofar as they have become directly applicable in national law,
are relevant, the applicable law is to be determined, where the facts of a case have a connection with a foreign country, by the provisions of this chapter (private international law).
(1) Referrals to substantive provisions relate to legal rules of the applicable legal system by the exclusion of its private international law.
(2) Where referrals in the third and fourth sections make the property of a person subject to the law of a country, they shall not relate to items which are not located in that country and are governed by special provisions under the law of the country where they are located.
(1) If referral is made to the law of another country, the private international law of that country shall also be applied, insofar as this is not incompatible with the meaning of the referral. If the law of another country refers back to German law, the German substantive provisions shall apply.
(2) Where the parties can choose the law of a certain country, that choice may only relate to the substantive provisions.
(3) If referral is made to the law of a country having several partial legal systems, without indicating the applicable one, then the law of that country will determine which partial legal system shall be applicable. Failing any such rules, the partial legal system to which the connection of the subject matter is closest shall be applied.
(1) If referral is made to the law of a country of which a person is a national and where this person is a bi- or multinational, the law applicable shall be that of the country with which the person has the closest connection, especially through his or her habitual residence or through the course of his or her life. If such person is also a German national, that legal status shall prevail.
(2) If a person is stateless or if his nationality cannot be identified, the law of that country is applicable in which the person has his or her habitual residence or, in the absence thereof, his or her residence.
(3) If referral is made to the law of a country in which a person has his or her residence or habitual residence and a person without or under restricted capacity to contract changes his or her residence without the consent of his or her legal representative, the application of another law does not ensue from this change alone.
A provision of the law of another country shall not be applied where its application would lead to a result which is manifestly incompatible with the fundamental principles of German law. In particular, inapplicability ensues, if its application would be incompatible with civil rights.
(1) The legal capacity and capacity to contract of a person are governed by the law of the country of which the person is a national. This is also applicable where the capacity to contract is extended by marriage.
(2) The once acquired legal capacity or capacity to contract shall not be lost or restricted by the acquisition or loss of legal status as a German national.
A declaration of death, the determination of death and of the time of death as well as presumptions of life and death are governed by the law of the country of which the missing person was a national at the latest point in time at which the person was still alive according to the available information. lf the missing person was at this time a foreign national, the person may be declared dead pursuant to the German law if there is a justified interest therefore.
(1) The name of a person is governed by the law of the country of which the person is a national.
(2) At or subsequent to the conclusion of marriage, the spouses may, by a declaration given before the Registrar’s of Births, Marriages and Deaths Office choose the name they will use thereafter:
1. under the law of the country of which one of the spouses is a national, notwithstanding article 5 subarticle 1; or
2. under German law, if one of them has his habitual residence within the country.
If the declaration is made subsequent to the conclusion of the marriage, it needs to be publicly certified. As to the effect of the choice on the name of a child, § 1617 c of the Civil Code shall apply mutatis mutandis.
(3) The person having the parental authority may declare before the Registrar’s of Births, Marriages and Deaths Office, that the child shall obtain the family name
1. pursuant to the law of a country of which one of the parents is a national, without regard to article 5 subarticle 1; or
2. pursuant to German law, if one of the parents has his or her habitual residence within the country; or
3. pursuant to the law of a country of which a person confering the name is a national
Declarations made subsequent to the issuing of a birth certificate need to be publicly certified.
(1) A legal act is formally valid if it satisfies the formal requirements of the law which is applicable to the legal relationship forming the subject matter of the legal act, or the law of the country in which the act is performed, are observed.
(2) If a contract is concluded between persons who are in different countries, it shall be formally valid if it observes the formal requirements of the law which is applicable to the legal relationship forming the subject matter of the contract, or of the law of one of these countries.
(3) If the contract is made by an agent, the determinant for the application of subarticles 1 and 2 is the country where the agent acts.
(4) Contracts, the subject matter of which is a right in immovable property or a right to use immovable property, are subject to the mandatory formal requirements of the law of the country where the property is situated, if by that law those rules are applicable irrespective of the place of conclusion of the contract or the law governing the contract.
(5) A legal transaction creating or transferring a right in rem is formally valid only if it observes the formal requirements of the law that is applicable to the legal relationship forming the subject matter of the legal act.
In a contract concluded between persons who are in the same country, a natural person who would have capacity under the substantive provisions of the law of that country may invoke his incapacity resulting from the substantive provisions of another law only if the other party to the contract was aware or should have been aware of this incapacity at the time of the conclusion of the contract. This does not apply to legal transactions under family law and the law of succession neither to dispositions relating to immovable property situated in another country.
(1) The conditions for the conclusion of marriage are, as regards each person engaged to be married, governed by the law of the country of which he or she is a national.
(2) If under this law, a requirement is not fulfilled, German law shall apply to that extent, if:
1. the habitual residence of one of the persons engaged to be married is within the country or one of them is a German national;
2. the persons engaged to be married have taken reasonable steps to fulfill the requirement; and
3. it is incompatible with the freedom of marriage to refuse the conclusion of the marriage; in particular, the previous marriage of a person engaged to be married shall not be held against him or her if it is nullified by a decision issued or recognized here or the spouse of the person engaged to be married has been declared dead.
(3) A marriage within the country may only be celebrated subject to the form provided for here. A marriage between two persons engaged to be married, neither of whom is a German national, may however be celebrated before a person properly authorized by the government of the country of which one of the persons engaged to be married is a national, according to the formalities prescribed by the law of that country; a certified copy of the registration of the marriage in the Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages, kept by the person properly authorized therefore, furnishes conclusive evidence of the marriage celebrated in that manner.
(1) The general effects of the marriage are governed by:
1. the law of the country of shared nationality of the spouses or last shared nationality during the marriage if one of them is still the national of that country, otherwise
2. the law of the country in which both spouses have their habitual residence or lastly had it during the marriage, if one of them still has his or her habitual residence there,
3. otherwise, the law of the country with which the spouses are jointly most closely connected.
(2) If one of the spouses has several nationalities, the spouses may choose the law of one of these countries, without regard to the provisions of article 5 subarticle 1, if the other spouse also has that nationality.
(3) The spouses may choose the law of the nationality of one spouse if the conditions of subarticle 1 no. 1 are not met and:
1. neither of the spouses is a national of the country in which both spouses have their habitual residence; or
2. the spouses do not have their habitual residence in the same country.
The effects of choice of law end if the spouses acquire a shared nationality.
(4) The choice of law must be notarially certified. If it is not performed within the country, it is sufficient if the formal requirements of a marriage contract under the law chosen or of the place of the choice of law are observed.
(1) The matrimonial property regime is governed by the law governing the general effects of the marriage upon conclusion of the marriage.
(2) The spouses may choose for their matrimonial property regime:
1. the law of the country of which one of them is a national,
2. the law of the country in which one of them has his habitual residence,
3. as to real property the law of the country in which this is situated.
(3) Article 14 subarticle 4 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
(4) The provisions of the Act Concerning the Matrimonial Property of Displaced Persons and Refugees remain unaffected.
(1) If the matrimonial regime is governed by the law of another country and one of the spouses has his or her habitual residence within the country or carries a trade therein, then § 1412 of the Civil Code shall apply mutatis mutandis; the foreign matrimonial regime is considered as one contracted for.
(2) As to legal transactions undertaken within the country § 1357, as to personal property which is located in the country § 1362, and as to a business carried out for profit here, §§ 1431 and 1456 of the Civil Code shall be applied mutatis mutandis, insofar as these provisions are more advantageous to a bona fide third party than the foreign law.
(1) Divorce is governed by the law governing the general effects of the marriage at the time the divorce application is served. If a divorce cannot be granted pursuant to the above, the divorce shall be governed by German law, if the spouse requesting the divorce is at this time a German national or was one when the marriage was concluded.
(2) Within this country a divorce may only be decreed by a court.
(3) The balancing of future pensions of husband and wife is governed by the law applicable under subarticle 1 first sentence; it shall only be carried out if accordingly German law is applicable and if such balancing is recognized by the law of one of the countries of which the spouses were nationals at the time when the divorce petition was served. Otherwise the balancing of future pensions of husband and wife shall be carried out pursuant to German law on application of a spouse:
1. if the other spouse has acquired during the subsistence of the marriage an inland future pension right; or
2. if the general effects of the marriage during part of the period of the marriage were governed by a law which provides for a balancing of future pensions of husband and wife,
insofar as carrying it out would not be inconsistent with equity in light of the economic circumstances of both sides also during the time not spent within the country.
The right to use the marital home that is located in the country and the household goods that are in the country as well as pertaining prohibitions as to trespass, approaching and contact are governed by German substantive law.
(1) The formation of a registered life partnership, its general effects and property regime, as well as its dissolution are governed by the substantive provisions of the country in which the life partnership is registered. Matters related to maintenance and succession shall be governed by the law designated as applicable by the general rules; if under these rules, the life partnership fails to qualify for statutory rights to maintenance or succession, the first sentence of this Article shall apply mutatis mutandis. The balancing of future pensions is governed by the law applicable under sentence 1; it shall only be carried out if accordingly German law is applicable and if the law of one of the countries, whose nationals the life partners are at the time when the application for termination of the life partnership is filed, recognizes a balancing of future pensions of life partners. Otherwise, it shall be carried out pursuant to German law on application of a life partner if the other life partner has acquired during the subsistence of the life partnership an inland future pension right insofar as carrying it out would not be inconsistent with equity in light of the economic circumstances of both sides also during the time which was not spent within the country.
(2) Article 10 subarticle 2 and article 17 a shall apply accordingly. If the general effects of the life partnership are governed by the law of another country, personal property that is located in this country shall be governed by § 8 subparagraph 1 of the Registered Partnership Act, and legal transactions that have taken place in this country shall be governed by § 8 subparagraph 2 of the Registered Partnership Act in connection with section 1357 of the Civil Code, insofar as these rules are more favorable to third parties acting in good faith as compared to the foreign law.
(3) If a life partnership between the same persons is registered in different countries, the effects specified in subarticle 1 shall, from the time of its registration on, be determined on the basis of the last life partnership entered into.
(4) The effects of a life partnership registered abroad shall not exceed those arising under the provisions of the German Civil Code and the Registered Partnership Act.
(1) The substantive provisions of the law of the place where the person entitled to maintenance has at a given time his or her habitual residence shall apply to the duty of providing maintenance. If the person entitled cannot obtain maintenance from the obligee under that law, the substantive provisions of the law of the country of common nationality shall apply.
(2) If the person entitled in unable to obtain maintenance from the obligee under either of the laws applicable pursuant to subarticle 1 sentence 1 or 2, German law shall be applied.
(3) In case of maintenance obligation between persons related in the collateral line or by marriage, the debtor may plead against the claim of the person entitled that under the substantive provisions of the law of the country of their shared nationality or, in the absence of a shared nationality, under the law applicable at the place of habitual residence of the obligee, there is no such duty.
(4) If a divorce is decreed or recognized here, the law applied to the divorce is applicable to the obligation to provide maintenance between the spouses and for modifications concerning these obligations. This is also valid in cases of separation or annulment of the marriage and in the case of a marriage declared void or invalid.
(5) German law shall be applied if the person entitled as well as the debtor have their habitual residence within the country.
(6) A law applicable to an obligation to provide maintenance determines, particularly:
1. whether, to what extent and from whom a person entitled may demand maintenance;
2. who is entitled to file a maintenance action and what the deadlines for filing are;
3. the extent the obligee’s obligations, to reimburse an institution taking care of official duties, that seeks, according to the law governing it, restitution for payments which it made to the person entitled.
(7) In assessing the amount of maintenance, the needs of the person entitled and the economic circumstances of the obligee shall be considered, even when the applicable law otherwise directs.
(1) The descent of a child is governed by the law of the place where the child has his or her habitual residence. In relation to each parent the descent can also be determined by the law of the country of this parent’s nationality. If the mother is married, the descent can also be determined by the law that governs the general effects of the marriage under article 14 subarticle 1 at the time of the birth of the child; if the marriage was dissolved before by death, the relevant time is the time of dissolution.
(2) If the parents are not married to each other, the obligations of the father towards the mother because of the pregnancy are governed by the law of the country of the mothers habitual residence.
The descent can be challenged according to any one of the laws, that govern its preconditions. The child, in any event, can challenge the descent under the law of his or her habitual residence.
The legal relationship between a child and her parents is governed by the law of the country in which the child has her habitual residence.
(1) The adoption of a child is governed by the law of the country of which the adopter is a national at the time of the adoption. The adoption by one or both spouses is governed by the law which applies to the general effects of the marriage under article 14 subarticle 1.
(2) The consequences as to the legal relationship between the child and the adopter and the persons, to whom the child has a legal relationship within the meaning of family law, are governed by the law that is determined by subarticle 1.
(3) With respect to succession to the adopter, his spouse or relatives, the adoptee, irrespective of the law applicable according to subarticles 1 and 2 has a position equal to the one of a child adopted under German substantive rules, if the deceased had decreed this by way of a will and if the succession is governed by German law. Sentence 1 shall apply mutatis mutandis, if the adoption is based on a foreign decision. Sentences 1 and 2 don’t apply, if the adoptee is 18 years or older at the time of the adoption.
The necessity and the granting of the consent of the child, and of a person who is related to the child under family law, to a declaration of descent, to conferring a name, or to an adoption are additionally governed by the law of the country of which the child is a national. Where the best interest of the child so requires, German law shall be applied instead.
(1) The creation, modification and termination of guardianship, protective care and curatorship, as well as the substance of legal guardianship and curatorship, are governed by the law of the country of which the ward, the person under protective care or the charge, is a national. A protector may be appointed pursuant to German law for a foreign national who has his or her habitual residence or, in the absence thereof, his or her residence within the country.
(2) If a curatorship is required due to the fact that it is not clear who is a party to an issue, or because a party is presently in another country, the law applicable is the one that governs the issue.
(3) Interim measures as well as the substance of protective care and the ordered guardianship and curatorship are governed by the law of the country which issued the order.
(1) Succession is governed by the law of the country of which the deceased was a national at the time of his death.
(2) As to immovables located within the country, the testator may, in the form of a testamentary disposition, choose German law.
(1) A testamentary disposition, also when it is made by several persons in the same document, is valid as regards form if its form complies with the formal requirements
1. of the law of the country of which the testator, without regard to article 5 subarticle 1, was a national at the time when he made the testamentary disposition or at the time of his death,
2. of the law of the place where the testator made the testamentary disposition,
3. of the law of the place where the testator had his domicile or habitual residence either at the time when he made the testamentary disposition, or at the time of his death,
4. so far as immovables are concerned, of the law of the place where they are situated, or
5. of the law which governs the succession or would govern at the time when the disposition was made.
The determination of whether or not the testator had his domicile in a particular place is governed by the law of that place.
(2) Subarticle 1 is also applicable to testamentary dispositions revoking an earlier testamentary disposition. The revocation is also valid as regards form if it complies with any one of the laws according to the terms of which, under subarticle 1, the testamentary disposition that has been revoked was valid.
(3) Any provision of law which limits the permitted forms of testamentary dispositions by reference to the age, nationality or other personal conditions of the testator, shall be deemed to pertain to matters of form. The same rule shall apply to the qualifications that must be possessed by witnesses required for the validity of a testamentary disposition.
(4) Subarticles 1 to 3 shall apply mutatis mutandis to other dispositions mortis causa.
(5) Otherwise the validity of a disposition mortis causa and its binding force are governed by the law which would have been applicable to the succession at the time the disposition was made. The testamentary capacity, once it has been acquired, shall not be adversely affected by the acquisition or loss of legal status as a German.
(1) The probationary period may not exceed two years', nor be of less than one year's, duration.
(2) The probationary period shall commence on the day the judgment establishing the youth's guilt enters into force. It may subsequently be shortened to one year or, prior to its expiry, be extended to a maximum of two years.
(1) Claims of unjust enrichment arising out of rendered performance are governed by the law that governs the underlying legal relationship to which the performance is related.
(2) Claims of unjust enrichment arising out of an infringement to a protected interest are governed by the law of the country, where the infringement occurred.
(3) In other cases claims of unjust enrichment are governed by the law of the country, in which the enrichment took place.
(1) Legal claims arising out of acts performed without due authority in connection with the affairs of another person are governed by the law of the country in which the transaction was performed.
(2) Claims deriving from satisfying debts of another person are governed by the law that governs the debt.
(1) Tort claims are governed by the law of the country in which the liable party has acted. The injured party can demand that instead of this law, the law of the country in which the injury occurred is to be applied. The option can be used only in the first instance court until the conclusion of the pretrial hearing or until the end of the written preliminary procedure.
(2) If, at the time of the occurrence of the event underlying the liability, the liable party and the injured party both had their habitual residence in the same country, the law of that country shall apply. For companies or firms and other bodies incorporate or unincorporate, the principal establishment, or where a branch is involved, this establishment, shall be treated as the place of the habitual residence.
(3) Claims governed by the law of another country cannot be raised insofar as they
1. go substantially beyond what is necessary for an adequate compensation of the injured party,
2. obviously serve purposes other than an adequate compensation of the injured party or
3. collide with liability rules under a convention in force in the Federal Republic of Germany.
(4) The injured party may bring his or her claim directly against the insurer of the person liable to provide compensation if the applicable tort law or the law applicable to the insurance contract so provides.
(1) If there is a substantially closer connection with the law of a country other than that applicable under articles 38 to 40 subarticle 2, then the law of that other country shall apply.
(2) A substantially closer connection may be based in particular
1. on a special legal or factual relationship between the persons involved in connection with the obligation or
2. in the cases of article 38 subarticles 2 and 3 and of article 39 on the fact, that the persons involved had their habitual residences in the same country at the time of the pertaining facts; article 40 subarticle 2 sentence 2 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
After the event giving rise to a non-contractual obligation occurred, the parties may agree to submit it to the law of their choice. Rights of third parties shall not be prejudiced.
(1) Interests in property are governed by the law of the country in which the property is situated.
(2) If an item, to which property interests attach, gets into another country, these interests cannot be exercised in contradiction to the legal order of that country.
(3) If a property interest in an item that is removed from another country to this country, has not been acquired previously, as to such acquisition in the country, facts that took place in another country are considered as if they took place in this country.
As to claims arising from adverse impacts that proceed from a plot of land, the provisions of Regulation (EC) No. 864/2007 except for chapter III shall apply mutatis mutandis.
(1) Interests in airborne, waterborne and rail borne vehicles are governed by the law of the country of origin. This is
1. as to aircrafts the country of their nationality,
2. as to watercrafts the country where they are registered, otherwise the home port or home location,
as to rail vehicles the country of licensing.
(2) The coming into existence of statutory security interests in these vehicles underlies the law applicable to the underlying claim. The ranking among several securities follows article 43 subarticle 1.
If there is a substantially closer connection with the law of a country other than that which would apply under articles 43 and 45, then that law shall apply
The person sustaining damage can invoke his or her right unter Article 7 of the Regulation (EC) No. 864/2007 to base his or her claim on the law of the country in which the event giving rise to the damage occurred, only in the first instance court until the conclusion of the pretrial hearing or until the end of the written preliminary procedure.
(1) If a contract, due to choice of law, is governed by the law of a country which is neither a Member State of the European Union, nor another Contracting State of the Agreement on the European Economic Area, yet if the contract shows a close connection to the area of one of theses states, then the provisions of this particular state that have adopted in implementation of the consumer protection directives are nevertheless applicable.
(2) A close connection must be assumed particularly where the entrepreneur[1]
1. carries on a professional or commercial activity in a Member State of the European Union or in a Contracting State of the Agreement on the European Economic Area in which the consumer has his or her habitual residence, or
2. directs such activity in some way towards this Member State of the European Union or towards another Contracting State of the Agreement on the European Economic Area or towards several states including this state,
and the contract falls within the scope of this activity.
The notion of „entrepreneur“ used here is equivalent to the notion of „professional“ used in Art 6 Rome I Regulation.
(3) Consumer Protection Directives in the meaning of this article are in their respectively updated version:
1. Directive 93/13/EEC of the Council of April, 5, 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts (OJ EC No. L 95 of 21.4.1993, p. 29)
2. 2. Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 1997 on the protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts (OJ EC No. L 144 of 4.6.1997, p. 19)
3. Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees (OJ EC No. L 171 of 7.7.1999, p. 12)
4. Directive 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2002 concerning the distance marketing of consumer financial services and amending Council Directive 90/619/EEC and Directives 97/7/EC and 98/27/EC (OJ EC No. L 271 of 2002, p. 16)
5. Directive 2008/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on credit agreements for consumers and repealing Council Directive 87/102/EEC (OJ EC No. L 133 of 22.5.2008, p. 66)
(4) If a timeshare contract, a long-term holiday product contract, a resale contract or an exchange contract in the meaning of Art 2 para. 1 (a) to (d) of Directive 2008/122/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 January 2009 on the protection of consumers in respect of certain aspects of timeshare, long-term holiday product, resale and exchange contracts (OJ L 33 of 3.2.2009, p. 10) is governed by the law of a country which is neither a Member State of the European Union, nor another Contracting State of the Agreement on the European Economic Area, then the consumers shall not be deprived of the protection granted in implementation of this directive, if
1. any of the immovable properties concerned is located in the sovereign territory of a Member State of the European Union or of another Contracting State of the Agreement on the European Economic Area, or
2. in the case of a contract not directly related to an immovable property, the entrepreneur pursues commercial or professional activities in a Member State of the European Union or another Contracting State of the Agreement on the European Economic Area or where he, by any means, directs such activities to such a state, and the contract falls within the scope of such activities.
(1) An insurance contract, covering risks for which a Member State of the European Union or another Contracting State of the Agreement on the European Economic Area has established an obligation to insure, is governed by the law of this state provided that this law holds itself applicable.
(2) A contract on a compulsory insurance is governed by German law, if the statutory obligation to conclude the contract is based on German law.
(1) Where a person under an applicable foreign law has obtained a name and the name is henceforth governed by German law, the person may, by a declaration given before the Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths,
1. determine a first and a family name from out of the name
2. choose a first or a family name where such name does not exist
3. give up components of the name that German law does not provide for
4. adopt the original version of a name that has been modified according to the sex or the family relationship
5. accept a German version of his or her first or his or her family name; where such a version of his or her first name does not exist, he or she can accept new first names.
Where the name is a marital name, during the marriage only both spouses may give the declaration.
(2) Subarticle 1 is applicable mutatis mutandis as to the formation of a name under German law, if it is derived from a name which has been obtained under an applicable foreign law.
(3) § 1617c of the Civil Code applies mutatis mutandis.
(4) The declarations made under Subarticles 1 and 2 need to be publicly authenticated or certified.
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