Negative Feststellungsklage und Verjährungshemmung

According to German courts, only the creditor can suspend the statute of limitations of claim by filing a suit. A negative declaratory action filed by the debtor, asserting that the claim does not exist, has no influence on the statute of limitations of said claim under current German case law. Thus, the statute of limitations can apply even though a court case is still pending. To prevent this, the creditor must file his own suit. The dissertation shows that this case law is not persuasive and neither follows from substantive nor procedural law. In addition, the dissertation examines whether the case law can produce feasible results in cross-border cases.