Die Parteivernehmung und der Grundsatz der Waffengleichheit im Zivilprozeß

In this work, Annett Kwaschik questions the justification for the restrictive regulations regarding the interrogation of a party in view of the procedural principles which are based on the German Code of Civil Procedure. She begins with the discussion about how the issue of the »private conversation« has been dealt with in German civil procedure as a reaction to the case of Dombo Beheer, which was decided by the European Court of Human Rights. In this decision, the principle of equality of weapons is used as an argument for the compensatory intervention of the courts in the private conversation. The study focuses on the question of whether the principle of equality of arms can be used as an argument for changing the application of section 445 of the German Code of Civil Procedure through court rulings and changing the legal structure of the interrogation of the parties.