Commercial law and corporate law belong to the area of private commercial law. It encompasses two areas of law that are closely intertwined.

Commercial law is understood to be the special private law for merchants. Who is a merchant is defined in Sections 1-6 of the Commercial Code. The purpose of the special provisions for merchants in commercial law and corporate law is, above all, to enable the speed and ease of commercial transactions and to quickly bring about legal certainty for merchants.

Themenkomplexe im Handelsrecht sind beispielsweise:

Firma
Prokura / Generalhandlungsvollmacht
Handelsvertreter / Handelsgehilfen
Rügeobliegenheit
Frachtvertrag / Speditionsvertrag

Corporate law deals with the law of partnerships (especially GbR, OHG, KG) and the law of corporations (especially GmbH, AG) in commercial law and corporate law. The main difference is that corporations are real legal entities that represent the sole legal entity in legal transactions in commercial law and corporate law. In addition to the classic company forms mentioned above, there are a number of special forms in commercial law and corporate law such as the GmbH & Co. KG or the UG (Mini GmbH).

Themenkomplexe im Gesellschaftsrecht sind beispielsweise:

Firma
Prokura / Generalhandlungsvollmacht
Handelsvertreter / Handelsgehilfen
Rügeobliegenheit
Frachtvertrag / Speditionsvertrag

Commercial law and corporate law cover a very broad spectrum and extend into many legal areas, including labor law, tax law, capital market law, antitrust law and many others. Commercial law and corporate law are regulated primarily in the BGB, HGB, GmbHG, AktG, PartGG, GenG and the UmwG.

On the following pages we will try to provide you with as much information as possible about the basic principles of commercial law and corporate law.

We also recommend the following pages on the subject of commercial law and corporate law: