30,000 new lawsuits for OLG: The flood of diesel litigation is barely subsiding

Sunday 13 June 2021

30,000 new lawsuits for OLGs
The flood of diesel processes is barely less

For Germany’s judiciary, rigging exhaust emissions in diesel engines is becoming a never-ending story. The higher regional courts alone registered 30,000 new cases last year. In some courts, the number of cases has skyrocketed recently.

Nearly six years after the manipulation of exhaust gas in diesel vehicles, the flood of lawsuits against manufacturers such as VW and Daimler continues in German courts. The Funke Media Group newspapers reported this citing a recent survey conducted by the German Association of Judges in 24 higher regional courts. Accordingly, the Appellate Authority alone registered around 30,000 new cases across the country in 2020. There were about 40,000 cases in the previous year.

“Almost six years after the exhaust gas scandal came to light, the judicial process still has no end,” Sven Reben, the federal manager of the judges’ union, told Funke newspaper. “Despite the pandemic, higher regional courts still registered nearly three times as many new diesel cases across the country in 2020 as in 2018. According to the Association of Judges, most cases relate to the Volkswagen Group and manufacturers Daimler and BMW.

According to the judges’ union, the first four months of the current year are not yet showing a similar picture: Several courts have pointed out that the number of diesel lawsuits has been significantly lower in some cases, while others have registered steady or increasing numbers. The highest number is currently reported by the Stuttgart High Regional Court, which received over 4,800 appeal proceedings in diesel exhaust cases in 2020. In the first four months of 2021, the Stuttgart-based company has already reported 2,320 new cases.

While the number of lawsuits against VW fell sharply more or less everywhere, as well as judging by the statute of limitations, “the number of lawsuits against Daimler is currently increasing,” Reuben said. In Stuttgart, the number of cases nearly tripled to 1,500 in the first four months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.