In German civil procedure certain sources of evidence may be used to prove a disputed fact. On
this basis the court then decides whether the fact can be considered true. There is a widely
held belief that in accordance with a doctrine of "strict evidence" these means of evidence
are restricted to those specified in Titles 6 to 10 Section One Book Two of the German Code
of Civil Procedure (ZPO) - in other words that there is a "numerus clausus". Joshua Fisher's
study refutes this assumption by interpreting the first sentence in paragraph one of the code's
Section 286 and examining the purposes served by the formalities of the taking of evidence set
out in Sections 284 para. 1 sentence 1 and 355 to 484 of the ZPO. In this way the difficult
interplay between these norms and the concept of free proof enshrined in Section 286 is
resolved.
