Germany’s ordinary courts once had Gerichtsferien, court holidays, from 15 July to 15 September. In June 1996 the Bundestag’s legal committee recommended a bill to abolish them. The bill came from the Bundesrat. It argued that the courts’ work could then be spread more evenly over the year. In their place came an individual right. Under Section 227 of the Code of Civil Procedure, a hearing set for 1 July to 31 August must be moved if a party asks within a week of the summons. Urgent matters and some other types of case are excepted.
The shared summer pause became a right that each party can claim for itself.