Neighbor law/neighbor protection; dispute resolution

Trees and shrubs, habits, noises, cats, dogs, and, last but not least, of course, the children: There are many reasons why a neighborly relationship can turn into a full-blown dispute. There are many ways to restore peaceful coexistence. And in many cases, there are clear rules in place.

The Arbitration Office—which operates on a volunteer basis—has been established to mediate disputes in matters of neighborly relations (that is, civil law disputes). The Mediation Office should always be consulted when the measures taken by the relevant specialized agency (such as the building code office or public order office) are insufficient and the situation between neighbors threatens to escalate.

The Act on the Regulation of Out-of-Court Dispute Resolution further stipulates that, in disputes involving neighbors, a lawsuit may only be filed if the parties have first sought out a so-called conciliation body and attempted to reach an agreement there. Conciliation offices in this context include, on the one hand, arbitration offices. On the other hand, attorneys may be recognized as conciliation offices. Of course, they may only act as a conciliation office in a neighborly dispute if they are not themselves representing one of the parties as counsel.