Information sheet [pdf] (PDF, 1MB, non-accessible format)
I. General information
Any person can lodge a constitutional complaint claiming that one of his or her fundamental rights or one of the rights laid down in Art. 20(4), Art. 33, Art. 38, Art. 101, Art. 103 and Art. 104 of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz – GG) has been violated by public authority (Art. 93(1) no. 4a of the Basic Law).
In constitutional complaint proceedings, the Federal Constitutional Court can find an act of public authority to be unconstitutional, declare a law void, or reverse an unconstitutional court decision and remand the matter to a competent court.
The Federal Constitutional Court cannot issue any other decisions in constitutional complaint proceedings. It does not, for instance, award damages or initiate criminal prosecution. In principle, complainants cannot demand that the legislator act in a specific way.
When a court decision is challenged by constitutional complaint, the challenged decision is not examined in its entirety, as the Federal Constitutional Court only examines whether constitutional law has been violated. Even if the procedure, the establishment and assessment of the facts of the case, the interpretation of a law or its application to the individual case may contain some errors, that in itself is not sufficient to establish a violation of fundamental rights.
II. Form and content of the constitutional complaints
Constitutional complaints must be submitted in writing, they must be in German and they must state reasons (§ 23(1) and § 92 of the Federal Constitutional Court Act, Bundesverfassungsgerichtsgesetz – BVerfGG).
From 1 August 2024 onwards, applications and declarations that must be filed in writing, as well as other briefs and their annexes, may be transmitted as electronic documents to the Federal Constitutional Court in accordance with § 23a of the Federal Constitutional Court Act. They may not be submitted by e-mail. More information on the technical requirements is available on the Court’s website (www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de).
From 1 August 2024 onwards, lawyers, authorities or legal persons under public law and any entities that the latter form to fulfil their public functions are obliged to use electronic filing when submitting applications and declarations that must be submitted in writing as well as other briefs and their annexes (§ 23c of the Federal Constitutional Court Act).
The reasons stated in the constitutional complaint must include at least the following information:
1. The act of public authority (court decision, administrative act, law) challenged by the constitutional complaint must be precisely specified (if the constitutional complaint is directed against court decisions or administrative acts, the date, file reference and day on which they were pronounced or received should be stated).
2. The fundamental right or equivalent right that is claimed to be violated by the challenged act of public authority must be specified, or at least described in terms of its legal content.
3. The details of the asserted fundamental rights violation must be specified. The challenged court decisions (including all documents to which reference is made), notices etc. must be submitted, or it must be possible to determine their full content, including the reasons, from the constitutional complaint. Merely making reference to the complainant’s own briefs from other proceedings or to further documents is not sufficient.
4. In addition to the challenged decisions, other documents from the initial proceedings (e.g. relevant briefs, minutes of hearings, expert opinions) must be submitted (as set out under 3. above) or their content must be reproduced if knowledge of these documents and their content is a necessary prerequisite for assessing whether the challenges raised in the constitutional complaint are valid.
5. If the constitutional complaint challenges court and/or administrative decisions, it must also be clear from the reasons in the complaint brief that everything was done to avert the asserted fundamental rights violation – i.e. that all legal remedies have been exhausted and all possible applications and complaints have been lodged before the ordinary courts. The applications made in the proceedings before the ordinary courts and other briefs from these proceedings must be enclosed (as set out under 3. above), or their content must be reproduced.
6. Briefs and other documents submitted to the Federal Constitutional Court become part of the court files, they are therefore generally not returned. Please only send briefs and copies that can remain in the files. Please do not submit more than one copy of the brief unless you are asked to do so.
III. Other admissibility criteria
1. Time limit
Constitutional complaints against court and administrative decisions must be lodged within one month of the decision (§ 93(1) first sentence of the Federal Constitutional Court Act). The complete reasons for the complaint must also be submitted within this period (§ 93(1) first sentence of the Federal Constitutional Court Act). If information that is part of the minimum requirements for substantiating constitutional complaints (see II. above) is submitted after the time limit has expired, the constitutional complaint remains inadmissible. The Court cannot extend the time limit.
If complainants were unable to comply with this time limit through no fault of their own, they can apply for reinstatement into the former procedural position within two weeks of the removal of the cause for non-compliance, and the constitutional complaint can be lodged subsequently. Evidence must be furnished that supports the facts underlying this application. Fault on the part of the complainant’s authorised representative is deemed equal to fault on the part of the complainant (§ 93(2) of the Federal Constitutional Court Act).
2. Exhaustion of legal remedies
a) General information
In principle, recourse to the Federal Constitutional Court is only admissible once all other legal remedies have been exhausted, and if, additionally, all other options of recourse available to correct or prevent the violation of the Constitution that is claimed have been exhausted. The constitutional complaint is inadmissible if and so far as there is or has been another possibility of redressing the fundamental rights violation, or of achieving the same practical end without recourse to the Federal Constitutional Court.
Thus, before lodging a constitutional complaint, the complainant must use any available legal remedies (e.g. appeals on points of fact and law, appeals on points of law, complaints and complaints against denial of leave to appeal). However, it is not required to lodge a constitutional complaint with the Constitutional Court of the respective Land (state). The possibilities of averting the claimed fundamental rights violation in proceedings before the regular courts include, in particular, the sufficient statement of all relevant facts, suitable motions for admission of evidence, applications for reinstatement into the complainant’s former procedural position if a time limit has not been complied with through no fault of the complainant.
b) Special rules for constitutional complaints seeking remedy for a violation of the right to be heard
A constitutional complaint challenging a separate and new violation of the right to be heard (Art. 103(1) of the Basic Law) by a decision of a court of last instance is only admissible if the complainant has first lodged a complaint seeking remedy for a violation of the right to be heard (Anhoerungsruege) and thereby sought redress before the competent ordinary court (cf. in particular § 321a of the Code of Civil Procedure Zivilprozessordnung – ZPO; § 152a of the Code of Administrative Court Procedure, Verwaltungsgerichtsordnung – VwGO; § 178a of the Social Courts Act, Sozialgerichtsgesetz – SGG; § 78a of the Labour Courts Act, Arbeitsgerichtsgesetz – ArbGG; § 44 of the Act on Proceedings in Family Matters and Matters of Non-Contentious Jurisdiction, Gesetz über das Verfahren in Familiensachen und in den Angelegenheiten der freiwilligen Gerichtsbarkeit – FamFG; § 133a of the Code of Finance Court Procedure, Finanzgerichtsordnung – FGO; §§ 33a and 356a of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Strafprozessordnung – StPO).
If no complaint seeking remedy for a violation of the right to be heard has been lodged although such complaint was not clearly without prospects of success, this can lead to the constitutional complaint being inadmissible not only with respect to the asserted violation of the right to be heard, but also with respect to other challenges, insofar as the complaint seeking remedy for a violation of the right to be heard could have remedied these. That said, a complaint seeking remedy for the right to be heard that is clearly without prospects of success does not impact the time limit for lodging a constitutional complaint. Yet if there are doubts as to the necessity and the prospects of the complaint seeking remedy for a violation of the right to be heard, the complainant can lodge such a complaint with the ordinary court while at the same time lodging a constitutional complaint in order to comply with the time limit.
c) Constitutional complaints against legislation
Laws, ordinances and by-laws can only be directly challenged by constitutional complaint in exceptional cases. The complainants must be individually, presently and directly affected by the legislation in question. The constitutional complaint must then be lodged within one year of the legislation entering into force (§ 93(3) of the Federal Constitutional Court Act).
Yet as a rule, the constitutional complaint will only be admissible if the challenged legislation has been executed, i.e. if it was applied in an individual case by an administrative or court decision, against which the persons concerned must exhaust all legal remedies available before the competent courts. Therefore, a constitutional complaint is generally only admissible after a decision of the court of last instance (§ 90(2) of the Federal Constitutional Court Act).
IV. Representation
The persons concerned may lodge the constitutional complaint themselves. At any stage of the proceedings, the parties may be represented by a lawyer or by a professor of law at a state or state-recognised higher education institution of a Member State of the European Union, another Contracting State to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or Switzerland who is qualified to hold judicial office as an authorised representative (§ 22(1) first sentence BVerfGG). The Federal Constitutional Court may permit another person to act as adviser to a party if it deems this relevant in exceptional cases (§ 22(1) fourth sentence BVerfGG). The power of attorney shall be granted in writing and must expressly be granted for the proceedings in question before the Federal Constitutional Court (§ 22(2) BVerfGG) and must clearly specify the acts of public authority challenged by the constitutional complaint.
Complainants can lodge a constitutional complaint themselves. At any stage of the proceedings, the parties may be represented by a lawyer or by a professor of law at a state or state-recognised higher education institution of a Member State of the European Union, another Contracting State to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or Switzerland, provided that the law professor is qualified to hold judicial office (§ 22(1) first sentence of the Federal Constitutional Court Act). The Federal Constitutional Court can allow another person to act as adviser to a party if it considers this to be warranted in exceptional cases (§ 22(1) fourth sentence of the Federal Constitutional Court Act). The power of attorney must be granted in writing and expressly for the proceedings before the Federal Constitutional Court (§ 22(2) of the Federal Constitutional Court Act); it must clearly specify the acts of public authority challenged by the constitutional complaint.
V. Admission procedure
Constitutional complaints are subject to admission for decision (§ 93a(1) of the Federal Constitutional Court Act).
A constitutional complaint must be admitted for decision insofar as it has general constitutional significance. A constitutional complaint will typically not be of general constitutional significance if the constitutional issues raised have already been decided by the Federal Constitutional Court. Further, a constitutional complaint must be admitted for decision if doing so is required to enforce the rights set out in § 90(1) of the Federal Constitutional Court Act; this may also be the case where the complainant would suffer a particularly severe disadvantage if the Federal Constitutional Court refused to decide on the complaint (§ 93a(2) of the Federal Constitutional Court Act).
A Chamber may, by way of unanimous decision of the three Justices who make up that Chamber, decide not to admit a constitutional complaint. No reasons need to be given for such a decision, and it cannot be appealed (§ 93d(1) of the Federal Constitutional Court Act).
VI. Court fees
Proceedings before the Federal Constitutional Court are free of charge. The Court may, however, impose a fee of up to EUR 2,600 on the complainant or an authorised representative if the lodging of the constitutional complaint constitutes an abuse of rights (§ 34(2) of the Federal Constitutional Court Act).
VII. Withdrawal of applications
A constitutional complaint can generally be withdrawn at any time, either in its entirety, with regard to particular challenges or with regard to an application for preliminary injunction, provided that the Federal Constitutional Court has not yet decided the case. A fee (see VI. above) will not be charged in this case.
VIII. General register
Submissions to the Federal Constitutional Court pursuing neither a specific application nor a claim falling within the jurisdiction of the Federal Constitutional Court will be recorded in the General Register and treated as matters of judicial administration.
In addition, constitutional complaints that cannot be admitted for they are clearly inadmissible, or because they evidently have no prospects of success when considered in light of the case-law of the Federal Constitutional Court, may also be recorded in the General Register (see V. above).
If, after having been informed about the legal situation, a complainant nevertheless wishes to request a judicial decision, the constitutional complaint will be transferred to the Register of Proceedings and processed accordingly (§ 64(2) of the Rules of Procedure of the Federal Constitutional Court, Geschäftsordnung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts – GOBVerfG).
GG = Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland) in the revised version published in the Federal Law Gazette (Bundesgesetzblatt – BGBl), Part III, no. 100-1), most recently amended by the Act of 19 December 2022 (BGBl I p. 2478).
BVerfGG = Federal Constitutional Court Act (Bundesverfassungsgerichtsgesetz) in the version published on 11 August 1993 (BGBl I p. 1473), most recently amended by Article 46 of the Act of 12 July 2024 (BGBl I no. 234).
GOBVerfG = Rules of Procedure of the Federal Constitutional Court (Geschäftsordnung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts) of 19 November 2014 (BGBl 2015 I p. 286).
(version: August 2024)