Also I found it interesting that Germans perceive the US as overly litigious but I found an article that said Germany has more lawsuits (per capita? In absolute totals?), funny how perception takes a long time to catch up to various forms of reality
https://www.clements.com/sites/default/files/resources/The-M...
was it this one?
https://ideas.repec.org/p/iuk/wpaper/2010-18.html
which curiously says that US has 5806 lawsuits per 100k people compared to 3681 in the UK (second highest) and immediately adds that it's not special
Sending one of these requires you also to clearly show how the recipient infringed on your rights or a law that affects you or your business in a negative way and lay out the costs you want reimbursed for sending the letter (up to 1000€). If you're wrong about it you'll have to pay all and any attorney fees of the other party.
If someone refuses to pay or sign the Abmahnung you have to go to court, in which case you'll need agreement from the party you're representing.
To file an actual lawsuit you still need to be wronged or damaged by the actions of another party, you can't just sue in the name of someone else without them agreeing to it. This is also limited to civil law, criminal law is handled by the state prosecutor via the police, not you yourself.
I’ll take “Semantical distinctions I dont have to care about” for $200, Alex
- If the defending party ever decides to fight and you don't have the approval of the wronged party, you can't even defend yourself (read the point above again);
- It's only for small values, and there is no upwards negotiation (you must lay the costs down at the letter).
That's the government not requiring a judicial process for small values, while keeping all the rights of the defending party (I wish my country had something like that). You may not care about the difference, but that only speaks about you, because there's a huge difference there.