Bundesverfassungsgericht

You are here:

Structure

Justices

The Court consists of two Senates, each of them with eight Justices. Currently, the President presides over the First Senate, the Vice-President over the Second Senate. Both Senates form Chambers with three members each. Each of the 16 Justices is assisted by four judicial clerks who have gained relevant professional experience at ordinary courts, public authorities, law firms or universities.

Half of the 16 Justices of the Federal Constitutional Court are elected by the Bundestag, and half by the Bundesrat. The President and Vice-President of the Court are also elected, in turns, by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. A two-thirds majority is required in both electoral bodies to ensure that the composition of the Senates is well-balanced.

At least three members of each Senate must be elected from the supreme federal courts (Federal Court of Justice, Federal Administrative Court, Federal Finance Court, Federal Labour Court and Federal Social Court), so that the Federal Constitutional Court’s decisions can benefit from their broad judicial experience. Anyone who is at least 40 years old and qualified to hold judicial office pursuant to the German Judiciary Act may be elected. A Justice’s term of office ends after twelve years or when the retirement age of 68 is reached. To ensure their independence, Justices may not be re-elected.

Code of Conduct for the Justices of the Federal Constitutional Court

German I English I French

Income of the Justices of the Federal Constitutional Court from non-judicial activities

German I English I French

Administration

The Federal Constitutional Court’s administration consists of the judicial administration, the general administration, the IT/documentation department, the protocol and the library. The Director of the Federal Constitutional Court heads the administration on behalf of the President.

Organisational chart (PDF, 318KB, non-accessible format)

Judicial administration

The judicial administration consists of the Senate registries, the judicial officers and the General Register.

The two Senate registries compile and manage their case files, maintain the database of proceedings, and manage the diary of deadlines and hearings. They communicate with the parties to the proceedings, serve court orders (e.g. summonses and notices of hearings) on the parties and communicate decisions to them. They also manage access to the case files.

The judicial officers fix legal fees for proceedings and help prepare oral hearings and pronouncements of judgments. They proofread Senate judgments and other decisions of the Court and finalise the documents required to close the case.

The General Register records and manages approximately 10,000 submissions per year. Senior staff qualified to hold judicial office are in charge of the department. The General Register records submissions to the Federal Constitutional Court which neither contain a specific procedural application nor assert a claim falling within the jurisdiction of the Federal Constitutional Court. These submissions are treated as matters of judicial administration (cf. § 63(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the Federal Constitutional Court). They include inquiries regarding the progress of pending proceedings and the case-law of the Federal Constitutional Court. The General Register also records, and replies to, letters from persons sharing their opinions on pending or concluded proceedings.

Constitutional complaints are also recorded in the General Register if they cannot be admitted for decision based on a preliminary assessment (cf. § 93a of the Federal Constitutional Court Art), either because they are clearly inadmissible or, in light of past decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court, clearly have no prospect of success. This mainly concerns cases in which the available legal remedies have not been exhausted or which are brought past the relevant deadline as well as applications which do not sufficiently set out the facts of the case, the challenged act of public authority or the asserted fundamental rights violation. If the person who submitted such an application requests a judicial decision despite having been informed about the lack of prospects of their complaint, the case is transferred to the Register of Proceedings and assigned to the competent reporting Justice.

If it cannot be directly determined which Senate is competent to deal with a constitutional complaint, it may preliminarily be recorded in the General Register. In practice, constitutional complaints in respect of which further legal recourse is still available (e.g. a complaint seeking remedy for a violation of the right to be heard or a complaint against the denial of leave to appeal), are recorded in the General Register as well, either upon application or ex officio.

General administration

The general administration has a wide range of responsibilities, including budgetary matters, construction matters, the court office, the Court’s registry, drivers, house management, the internal mail service, organisational matters, personnel matters, the phone and fax service, the post room, the printing service, procurement and security matters.

IT/Documentation

The Federal Constitutional Court uses modern information technology to support almost all tasks that arise in the course of proceedings. Therefore, a reliable and secure IT network is integral to internal data exchange. The Court’s IT department is responsible for maintaining and developing the necessary technical infrastructure. In addition, it ensures that channels for external communication work without disturbances – either through secure Internet access or by maintaining the technical equipment for telecommunications.

The documentation department records and documents decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court as well as other important materials – in particular constitutionally relevant legal literature. After having been processed by the documentation department, decisions are published in the juris database.

Protocol

The protocol’s main responsibilities include handling the Court’s contacts to other constitutional organs and national institutions, as well as maintaining and furthering relationships to constitutional courts abroad. Moreover, the protocol organises major events at the Court and translates selected decisions into English.