Questão jurídica principal
Whether the participation of a replacement judge and the absence of the chamber president violated the required essential procedural form and the right to the lawful judge under § 259 no. 1 ZPO.
Decisão extraída
No. The Obergericht’s internal rules do not exhaustively regulate the use of replacement judges; the parties have no entitlement to an explanation for the panel composition, so long as recusal rules are respected and the panel consists of duly elected judges.
Fundamentação extraída
The court held that the Obergericht’s business regulation only governs internal organization and case management. Using replacement judges because of workload is common and permissible. A member’s absence, whether for organizational reasons or recusal, is not itself improper. The decisive point is compliance with recusal rules and lawful appointment of the judges sitting in the case.