Calculation of dispute value after joint declaration of settlement and cost allocation in revision proceedings

The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ordered the defendant to bear the legal costs of the appellate proceedings, upheld the lower court’s cost allocation regarding the first instance which accounted for a partial withdrawal of the claim, and fixed the dispute value for the revision instance at €602.20. The dispute concerned the procedural calculation of litigation values (Streitwert) in a civil case where the parties issued a joint declaration of settlement (main matter resolved) during the proceedings, specifically addressing whether the dispute value should be differentiated between the period before and after that declaration. Relying on established doctrine, the court held that such differentiation was unnecessary because the attorney fees exceeded the value of the main subject matter, which serves as the upper limit for the dispute value once the main matter is resolved, thereby precluding a higher calculated value for the pre-settlement period.