Selected aspects of Compensation in the Dieselgate case in Germany
Selected aspects of Compensation in the Dieselgate case in Germany

Author(s): Tomáš Brandejský
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, EU-Legislation, Commercial Law, Court case
Published by: Societatea de Stiinte Juridice si Administrative
Keywords: automotive; compensatory damages; consumer rights; deception; defeat device; environment; emissions; fraud;
Summary/Abstract: In September 2015, it was revealed that the German company Volkswagen AG had installed a so-called defeat device in more than 11 million vehicles between 2009 and 2015. The purpose of this device was to detect that the vehicle is being subjected to a laboratory emissions measurement and activate a low-emission mode for such a case. In normal operation, however, the emissions of affected vehicles greatly exceeded the limits set by relevant EU regulation. Courts around the world are still hearing claims for damages from millions of affected owners, mainly on the grounds that they were misled when they bought the vehicle that it met the mandatory emission standards. The aim of the paper is to explore insofar the reasoning developed by the German courts may be applied by other Central European courts, in particular the Czech ones. To this end, the paper will describe and analyse the German legislation and the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) and the German courts and also compare the wording of the corresponding Acts applicable to awarding damages for misleading consumers. The chosen task was addressed by means of reviewing relevant legislation, court decisions and academic texts. The research carried out revealed that, although a substantial part of the problems have already been resolved, some issues are still open and await the final word from the CJEU. The conclusions of the German courts are also applicable to the Czech legal environment. The results of this work provide an understanding of how the German justice has dealt with the claims of injured purchasers, and also to what extent are conclusions of German courts applicable to the Czech legal environment.

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