The Commercial Court Berlin

The Commercial Court Berlin is a Senate at the Higher Regional Court Berlin (Kammergericht, KG), established in 2025 and specialised in construction and architectural law.

In case of legal disputes of German or foreign parties involved in construction projects, they may start legal proceedings before this highly specialised panel of fully qualified German judges. The place of dispute can be inside or outside Germany, the amount in dispute must be at least EUR 500,000.

Proceedings before the Commercial Court are governed by the rules of the German Code of Civil Procedure (Zivilprozessordnung, ZPO). The Court serves as first instance, judgements can be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH). Upon request of the parties the proceedings can be conducted in English.

With this approach complex commercial disputes of German or foreign parties shall be examined and decided by experts with a legal and commercial background ensuring efficient and swift results.

President of the Commercial Court Berlin is Björn Retzlaff, Presiding Judge at the Higher Regional Court Berlin.

Björn Retzlaff, born in 1970, holds a law degree of the University of Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany). He also studied law at the University of Dijon (France). He has been serving as a judge in Berlin since 1999. From 2010 to 2016, he was the Chair of a Chamber for Commercial Matters at the Berlin Regional Court. Since 2017, he is presiding judge at the 21st Civil Senate at the Higher Regional Court Berlin. This Senate is mainly responsible for construction and architectural law. In 2024, he was also appointed Vice President of the Constitutional Court of the State of Berlin. His judicial work has focused on private construction law for more than 20 years. He is a co-author of the well known legal compendium Grüneberg, Kommentar zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuch, and co-editor of the construction law journal Baurecht. He also regularly gives lectures in additional legal education for lawyers and judges, particularly in the field of construction and architectural law.

The establishment of the Commercial Court is based on the Act to Strengthen Germany as a Center of Justice, which went into effect on April 1, 2025. In accordance with this legislation two Commercial Chambers at the Berlin Regional Court II were established in addition to the special Chamber at the Higher Regional Court Berlin.