Court Districts

In addition to the Higher Regional Court districts of Cologne and Hamm, Düsseldorf is one of the three judicial districts in North-Rhine-Westphalia, and originated from the division of the court districts of Hamm and Cologne in 1906.

Its 4.7 million inhabitants live in an area of approximately 5,000 square kilometers.

Jurisdiction of the Higher Regional Court Düsseldorf

  • 29 Civil Divisions, including Industrial Property Rights
  • 9 Divisions for Family Matters - "Düsseldorf Table"
  • 7 Criminal Divisions – incl. 4 Senates for National Security Matters
  • 4 Divisions for Administrative Fine Matters
  • 3 Senates for Tax Consultants Matters
  • 1 Public Procurement Division
  • 5 Antitrust Divisions
  • 2 Patent Divisions

Other responsibilities

  • Judicial Proceedings under the Energy Industry Act
  • Company Law - "squeeze-out"
  • Recognition of foreign divorces
  • Central authority for:

            Hague Convention on the Service of Documents since 1965

            Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence since 1970

  • Contact point of the European Judicial Network
  • Patent litigation 

Court districts 

The judicial district includes six regional courts and 29 local courts. More than 5,000 court officials, including approx. 1,000 judges, work in this district.

The Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf is the court of appeal for subordinate courts.

In addition, it has special jurisdiction, e.g. in proceedings under the antitrust law, public pro-curement law, or cartel law. As the only court in North-Rhine-Westphalia, it is responsible for national security matters and terrorism proceedings. Over the past years, for example, Islamist terrorists have repeatedly brought before this court to answer criminal charges.

Use the following links to get more information about the judicial districts of each regional court and the subordinate local courts: