Recusal of judges in civil proceedings and denial of legal aid for futile litigation

The Federal Court of Justice, 12th Civil Senate, dismissed the plaintiff’s application for recusal of four judges and one judge as clearly inadmissible or abusive, and rejected her application for legal aid, ruling that the intended litigation lacked prospects of success. The case involved a procedural dispute where the plaintiff challenged the composition of the bench and sought to cover litigation costs, necessitating a determination on both the validity of the recusal request and the viability of the substantive claim. The court relied on the principle that a panel may rule on clearly abusive recusal applications in its full regular composition, including the rejected judges, and applied § 114 Abs. 1 ZPO to deny legal aid due to the futility of the intended legal proceedings.