Note: As the attorney of Ms. Hu, the victim,  I would share the personal injury case, which involves many legal issues, such as governing law and judiciary immunity etc. The case is being processed; and your attention, comments or suggestion is highly appreciated. 

BRIEF FACTS

On 23 July,2012, Ms. Hu Shuang went to GIC Shanghai (AHK)to submit German business visa application materials. When Ms. Hu Shuang sat down in the waiting room of GIC Shanghai, she fell backward because the seat suddenly overturned due to serious quality defects (without any warning sign).Consequently, Ms. Hu Shuang’s head heavily hit the rear chair surface, which led to severe injury to her cervical spine. However, despite continual groan of Ms. Hu Shuang, no staff came out to have a look in nearly one hour after she fell down.
Thanks to the consistent request for help of Mr. Ulrich H. Kiefer,who accompanied Ms. Hu Shuang for the visa application, at last GIC Shanghai and AHK sent her to Oriental Hospital in the neighborhood. Fortunately, the personal injury sustained by her was not fatal, Ms. Hu Shuang received a highly risky cervical spine surgery on 25 July and left the hospital on 1 August.

1.After being retained by Ms. Hu Shuang, first lawyer's letter sent to GIC on 10 May (In chinese) proposing amicable consultation.

Two rounds of negotiation followed; but no progress.GIC Shanghai sent a layer's letter requesting us to list compensation items in detail  and provide related articles.

2.On 09 October, second lawyer's letter sent to GIC Shanghai (In Chinese) which lists thecompensation items in detail.

Soon we received a second lawyer's letter from GIC Shanghai, which refused clearly and  definitely.

3. On 25 Oct.,the 3rd lawyer's Letter sent to GIC Shanghai

                                             Re: Personal Injury Suffered by Ms. Hu Shuang

Mr. Christoph Angerbauer:

I, Linchang Shen, Attorney at Law with Shanghai Promise Law Firm hereby officially sends you a second lawyer’s letter on behalf of Ms. Hu Shuang,who suffered severe personal injury at GIC Shanghai when applying German business visa last July.
It is a pity but we have to inform you that we have been deeply disappointed after several rounds of negotiation with GIC Shanghai. We have been convinced that GIC Shanghai has no sincerity to resolve the dispute by friendly negotiation;what is more, the indifference and arrogance of GIC Shanghai is totally unacceptable. Please be advised that henceforth we will take all necessary legal actions instead of amicable consultation.
Please also note that we have never threaten GIC Shanghai nor have we the interest to threaten you. Legally speaking,as the principal Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in China (hereinafter “the German Embassy”) ,which outsourced the application process of German visa applications to AHK (GIC Shanghai) should be jointly and severally liable for the personal injury suffered by Ms. Hu Shuang.The German Embassy has the legitimate rights to know the ridiculous accident and how GIC Shanghai dealt with it. Particularly, we will send the German Embassy a separate lawyer’s letter to report the accident in details. We will also notify the German Embassy that we will file a lawsuit against GIC Shanghai as well as the German Embassy in a competent Chinese local court and kindly ask the German Embassy whether they would give up judiciary immunity to a Chinese court. If not, we will consider initiating lawsuit in Germany.
Likewise, GIC Shanghai is also completely wrong to regard it as a “threat” that Ms. Hu Shuang considers publicizing the accident. The indifference of GIC Shanghai is quite beyond imagination; in nearly one hour after Ms. Hu Shuang fell heavily due to the defected chairs at GIC Shanghai, no staff came out to have a look. Considering the indifference of GIC Shanghai to Chinese applicants’ personal safety, Ms. Hu Shuang is obligated to publicize the painful accident to warn other visa applicants to take care their person safety when applying visa at GIC Shanghai.　      
Last but not least, please respect and protect Chinese applicants’ personal safety just as in other countries even though the legal compensation for personal injury is much  lowern China.     

4. The 4th Lawyer's Letter was sent to the German Embassy on 31 October with respect to judiciary immunity.

               Re: Judiciary Immunity to a Chinese Local Court 

Via Express Mail
Dr. Michael Clauss
Ambassador
Embassy of F.R.Germany in China 
17 Dongzhimenwai Dajie
Beijing,P.R. China

Your Honorable:

I am very sorry to disturb you but I have to officially send you and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in China (hereinafter “the German Embassy”) a lawyer’s letter on behalf of Ms. Hu Shuang, who suffered severe personal injury at  German Industry & Commerce Greater China, Shanghai ( hereinafter “GIC Shanghai”) when applying for German business visa last year.

On 23 July,2012, Ms. Hu Shuang went to GIC Shanghai to submit German business visa application materials. When Ms. Hu Shuang sat down in the waiting room of GIC Shanghai, she fell backward because the seat suddenly overturned due to serious quality defects (without any warning sign).Consequently, Ms. Hu Shuang’s head heavily hit the rear chair surface, which led to severe injury to her cervical spine. However, despite continual groan of Ms. Hu Shuang, no staff came out to have a look in nearly one hour after she fell down; the indifference of GIC Shanghai is quite beyond imagination.

Thanks to the consistent request for help of Mr. Ulrich H. Kiefer,who accompanied Ms. Hu Shuang for the visa application, at last GIC Shanghai and AHK sent her to Oriental Hospital in the neighborhood. Fortunately, the personal injury sustained by her was not fatal, Ms. Hu Shuang received a highly risky cervical spine surgery on 25 July and left the hospital on 1 August. 

We had originally tried to resolve the personal injury dispute with GIC Shanghai through amicable consultation. However, we have been deeply disappointed after several rounds of negotiation; and we have been convinced that GIC Shanghai has no sincerity to resolve the dispute by friendly negotiation. What is more, the arrogance of GIC Shanghai is totally unacceptable. We have to take legal actions to protect the legitimate rights of Ms. Hu Shuang.

Legally speaking, as the principal, the German Embassy ,which outsourced the application process of German visa applications to GIC Shanghai should be jointly and severally liable for the personal injury suffered by Ms. Hu Shuang. It is a pity but we have to inform you that we will file civil lawsuit against GIC Shanghai as well as the German Embassy in a competent Chinese court.Hereby we kindly ask you whether the German Embassy would give up the judiciary immunity, to which  according to international law the German Embassy is entitled. If not, we will consider initiating litigation in Germany, which will obviously increase the expense of Ms. Hu Shuang significantly. If we do not receive any response from the German Embassy in a reasonable time, it will be presumed the German Embassy would not give up the judicial immunity to a Chinese court.Thanks.