remedy
noun · Rechtsbehelf
Rechtsbehelf, the umbrella for what a party can do about a breach, Anspruch where one enforceable claim is meant. Never Rechtsmittel, that German word exists and is taken, it names the appeal against a judgment, and the false friend moves the sentence from contract law into the courtroom.
Which translation, when
Why
Remedy has no single German twin because German law rarely needs the umbrella, the BGB thinks in Ansprüche, § 194 Abs. 1 BGB defines the Anspruch as the right to demand action or forbearance, and where English law says the buyer’s remedies, § 437 BGB says Rechte des Käufers and lists them. Where an umbrella is wanted, German usage says Rechtsbehelf, the official term of the German CISG text, Rechtsbehelfe des Käufers, Art. 45 CISG. Rechtsmittel meanwhile is fully occupied, in German procedure it names the narrow class of Rechtsbehelfe aimed at court decisions, Berufung and Revision, §§ 511, 542 ZPO, so a contract that preserves sämtliche Rechtsmittel has preserved appeals. The false friend is close enough to pass a hurried eye and wrong enough to change the subject, remedies live inside the contract, Rechtsmittel live in the Instanzenzug, and a German reader cannot repair the sentence without guessing.
Typical mistakes
- Rechtsmittel is the appeal, Berufung and Revision, §§ 511, 542 ZPO, a remedies clause built on it talks about challenging judgments instead of enforcing the contract.
- Abhilfe is narrower than remedy, it is the act of putting a problem right, Abhilfe schaffen, not the menu of claims a party holds.
- Cumulative remedies translate by content, die Rechte und Rechtsbehelfe bestehen nebeneinander, German drafting spells the cumulation out instead of trusting one noun to carry it.
What matters
Remedies boilerplate near the end of the contract is the trap: the rights and remedies of the parties are cumulative reads die Rechte und Rechtsbehelfe der Parteien bestehen nebeneinander, and the machine version with Rechtsmittel promises the parties appellate procedure instead. A German in-house lawyer reads that sentence twice, and the second reading is not kind to the drafter.
What the machine misses
Remedy walks into the engines and comes out as Rechtsmittel often enough to matter, the dictionary neighbour that means the appeal. The clause that preserved every remedy now preserves every Berufung, contract law has turned into procedure, and the German reader, who knows Rechtsmittel only from the courtroom, is left wondering which judgment the parties were planning to attack.
Examples
| legal remedies | Rechtsbehelfe |
| the buyer’s remedies for defects | die Rechte des Käufers bei Mängeln |
| an effective remedy | ein wirksamer Rechtsbehelf |
| rights and remedies are cumulative | Rechte und Rechtsbehelfe bestehen nebeneinander |