Die Systematik privatrechtlicher Rechtsprechungsänderungen

In this work, Ulrich Keil deals with the question of whether or not there is a system to the changing of court decisions by the Federal Civil Court. He focuses on the fact that German law, unlike Anglo-Saxon law, is a codified and not a case law system. Thus, German lawyers are not as used to distinguishing among precedents as their counterparts in Anglo-Saxon countries are. The author identifies three major cases of changes by German courts: changes as announced, changes following another court decision and unexpected changes, each of which is described with the problems it involves, the variations, the chances and the risks. Based on this, the author explores methods for the protection of confidence and the prediction of forthcoming court decisions.