The Federal Constitutional Court

Organization

The Federal Constitutional Court consists of sixteen justices. They are elected by the two Federal legislative bodies (Bundestag and Bundesrat). Half of the justices are elected by the Bundestag and half by the Bundesrat, each by a two-thirds majority. Their term of office is twelve years. Re-election is not allowed. The Court decides through a Senate or a Chamber.

The Court is made up of two Senates (panels) with eight members each. The First Senate is chaired by the Vice-President, the Second Senate by the President. The competence for constitutional complaints and review of statutes is shared between the two Senates. In all other procedures, the Second Senate decides exclusively.

In each Senate there are three Chambers with three members each. The Chambers primarily determine whether a constitutional complaint is to be admitted for decision. If the complaint is not admitted the procedure is terminated. On the other hand, the Chamber may grant a constitutional complaint if it is patently well-founded and the point of law has already been decided by the Senate. In proceedings of fundamental importance, however, it is always the Senate that decides.

The public knows the Court chiefly for the Senate proceedings. Only the Senates hold oral hearings. A large part of the work, however, is handled by the Chambers. Between 1951 and 2006, 6,783 Senate decisions and 133,831 orders from the Chambers were issued. Moreover, 1,789 motions for a temporary injunction were decided. The Chambers thus relieve the Senates of much of their caseload. Given the large number of cases, this is unavoidable: At present nearly 6,000 constitutional complaints come before the Federal Constitutional Court annually.

The Plenary consists of all sixteen members of the Court. It decides should one Senate wish to depart from the legal opinion of the other one. Additionally, it has organizational tasks. Within the framework of the law, it regulates the competencies of the Senates. The Senates are assigned their competencies prior to each business year.

The Federal Constitutional Court is a constitutional body. It is not subject to supervision by any Ministry. The President heads the Court's administration. Fundamental organizational decisions are taken by the Plenary, which also decides on the preliminary estimates for the budget. In the 2011 Federal budget, with a total volume of approximately € 305.8 billion (2010: 219.8 billion), the individual budget for the Federal Constitutional Court accounts for expenditure amounting to approximately € 24.9 million (2010: 23.2 million).