In the case of minor legal disputes or in everyday minor cases, it is not necessarily necessary to go to court. The arbitration offices offer a cost-effective and simple way of settling disputes. These have focused their activities on the negotiation of everyday civil law, e.g. neighborhood and rent disputes or disputes over monetary claims, etc. In the case of minor offences, e.g. trespassing, insult, minor bodily injury or damage to property, there is even the obligation to first call the arbitration office to settle the dispute. Only if the attempt at conciliation has been unsuccessful can a private action be brought before the competent criminal court.
 

The volunteer arbitrators, formally appointed by the competent district court, live and reside in the municipality of the Arbitration Office and often know the human background of a dispute. Therefore, they often have better proposals for its settlement than a court could do with its procedural means.

Trees and shrubs, habits, sounds, cats, dogs and last but not least, of course, the children: There are many occasions for the neighbouring community to become a tangible dispute. Many roads lead back to peaceful coexistence. And for many cases, there are clear rules.

The Arbitration Office - as an honorary activity - is set up to settle disputes in matters of neighbouring law (i.e. civil disputes). The Arbitration Office should always be involved if the regulations taken by the responsible specialist office (e.g. Building Regulations Office, Public Order Office) are not sufficient and the neighbouring situation threatens to escalate.

The Act on the Regulation of Out-of-Court Dispute Resolution also stipulates that in disputes under neighbouring law, a legal action can only be brought if the parties have previously visited a so-called conciliation office and tried to reach an agreement there. Quality bodies in this sense are, on the one hand, the arbitration offices. On the other hand, lawyers can be recognised as a conciliation body. Of course, they can only act as a conciliation body in a dispute under neighbouring law if they do not themselves represent one of the parties as a lawyer.

In certain civil disputes, you must attempt conciliation under the Hessian Act on the Regulation of Out-of-Court Dispute Resolution before you can bring an action in court.

In this case, an impartial conciliator or arbitrator appointed by the arbitration office or a recognized conciliation body should try to find an amicable solution together with you and your opponent. Among other things, this has the advantage that it can usually be implemented faster and helps to avoid a long legal dispute over several instances, which ultimately saves time and money.

If an agreement is reached during the conciliation hearing, it will be recorded in minutes. This protocol may be enforced in the same way as a settlement concluded in court.

If your opponent absences from the conciliation hearing without excuse or if an agreement cannot be reached, this will be noted in a certificate. With this, you can then file a complaint with the court.

The aim of a mediation attempt is to strengthen independent conflict resolution and to improve legal peace.
Tip: Detailed information on the procedure of out-of-court dispute resolution can be found in the brochures "Conciliation instead of judging" and "The Hessian Arbitration Office" of the Hessian Ministry of Justice. It also explains alternative options for mandatory dispute resolution in accordance with the Hessian Law on the Regulation of Out-of-Court Dispute Resolution.

Especially in the case of disputes in daily life with neighbors or acquaintances, the atmosphere is quickly so tense that the parties involved can no longer express themselves in peace. Relationships that have been good until then are too good to jeopardize them in a legal dispute because the hedge of the neighboring property has grown too high, your car has been damaged while parking or the craftsman next door has poorly executed the repair order. It is precisely here that arbitrators can help to settle the dispute and preserve neighbourly, family and friendly relations.

Since 01.12.2008, the State Arbitration Act stipulates for certain neighbours' rights and defamation disputes that an attempt at conciliation must be made before an arbitrator or other conciliation body is initiated before legal proceedings are initiated.

The attempt at atonement is also a prerequisite for bringing a private action.

Prosecution is a matter for the state, but some offences require the involvement of an arbitrator before you can appeal to the court, namely the so-called private prosecution offences

• Trespass
• Insult
• violation of the secrecy of correspondence,
• Bodily injury
• Threat
• damage to property, or
• Committing the aforementioned offenses while intoxicated.

If such offences are possible, the public prosecutor's office will only bring charges if it affirms the public interest in prosecution. If it does not see such a public interest, you will be referred to private action. This means that if you want the perpetrator to be punished, you will have to file a complaint with the criminal court yourself.

However, you can only file such a private lawsuit if you have previously tried to reconcile with the other parties out of court.

Arbitration is a facility for the pre- and out-of-court resolution of certain legal disputes.