[The Patient Rights Act (PatRG)--part 1: legislative procedure, treatment contract, contracting parties and their obligations to cooperate and inform].

The article deals with the new regulations in the German Civil Code (BGB) which came into effect in Germany on 26 Feb 2013 as the Patient Rights Act (PatRG). In Part I, the legislative procedure, the treatment contract and the contracting parties (Section 630a Civil Code), the applicable regulations (Section 630b Civil Code) and the obligations to cooperate and inform (Section 630c Civil Code) are discussed and critically analysed.