Federal Constitutional Court Act
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Law on the Federal Constitutional Court |
| Short title: | Federal Constitutional Court Act |
| Abbreviation: | BVerfGG |
| Type: | Federal law |
| Scope: | Federal Republic of Germany |
| Legal matter: | Administration of justice , constitutional procedural law |
| References : | 1104-1 |
| Original version from: | March 12, 1951 ( BGBl. I p. 243 ) |
| Entry into force on: | April 17, 1951 |
| New announcement from: | August 11, 1993 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1473 ) |
| Last change by: |
Art. 4 G of November 20, 2019 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1724, 1731 ) |
| Effective date of the last change: |
November 26, 2019 (Art. 29 G of November 20, 2019) |
| GESTA : | C044 |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version. | |
The Federal Constitutional Court Act (BVerfGG) of March 12, 1951, last published on August 11, 1993, regulates the competences and procedures of the highest court in Germany , the Federal Constitutional Court . According to § 31 para. 1 BVerfGG the decisions of the Constitutional Court are binding on the constitutional bodies of the Federal and state governments as well as all courts and authorities .
Anchoring the law in the constitution
While the establishment of the Federal Constitutional Court is regulated directly in the Basic Law (Art. 92 GG) and the essential provisions on the tasks and composition of the Federal Constitutional Court can also be found there in Art. 93, 94 GG, the Basic Law leaves regulations with regard to the constitution of courts and the applicable procedural law another law (Article 94, Paragraph 2 of the Basic Law: "A federal law regulates its constitution and the procedure and determines in which cases its decisions have the force of law. For constitutional complaints, it can make the previous exhaustion of legal recourse a prerequisite and provide for a special acceptance procedure. ").
Structure of the Federal Constitutional Court Act
The first part of the Federal Constitutional Court Act regulates the constitution and jurisdiction of the Federal Constitutional Court (Sections 1–16 BVerfGG).
A second part contains general procedural regulations (Sections 17–35 BVerfGG).
In the third part, so-called special procedural regulations are then standardized, i.e. those regulations which provide for special regulations for one of the different types of activity of the Federal Constitutional Court (constitutional complaint proceedings, norm review proceedings, etc.) (Sections 36–97 BVerfGG).
The fourth part is headed with final provisions and regulates in particular details with regard to the legal status of judges at the Federal Constitutional Court (Sections 98-107 BVerfGG).
The regulations of the BVerfGG in detail
Part I: Constitution and jurisdiction of the Federal Constitutional Court
This section contains, among other things, the important regulations on the election of judges of the Federal Constitutional Court (Section 6), the jurisdiction of the court (Section 13) and the plenary decision (Section 16).
Part II: General rules of procedure
The general procedural rules include the regulation of § 31 BVerfGG, which is extremely important in practice and literally reads:
“(1) The decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court are binding on the constitutional organs of the Federation and the Länder as well as all courts and authorities.
(2) In the cases of Section 13 No. 6, 11, 12 and 14, the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court has the force of law. This also applies in the cases of § 13 No. 8a, if the Federal Constitutional Court declares a law to be compatible or incompatible with the Basic Law or to be null and void. If a law is declared to be compatible or incompatible with the Basic Law or declared null and void, the decision formula must be published by the Federal Ministry of Justice in the Federal Law Gazette. The same applies to the decision formula in the cases of § 13 No. 12 and 14. "
III. Part: Special procedural rules
Part III deals with the special procedural rules.
IV. Part: Final provisions
In addition to the special provisions made here, the law in § 103 standardizes the applicability of the provisions on federal judges with regard to the legal status of judges of the Federal Constitutional Court.
See also
literature
- Christian Burkiczak, Franz-Wilhelm Dollinger, Frank Schorkopf (eds.): Federal Constitutional Court Act, Heidelberg Commentary , new edition, CF Müller, Heidelberg, 2015, ISBN 978-3-8114-3815-6 .
- Roland Fleury: constitutional procedural law. 9th edition, Vahlen, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-8006-3967-0 .
- Hans Lechner, Rüdiger Zuck: Law on the Federal Constitutional Court (Federal Constitutional Court Act - BVerfGG). Comment . 6th edition, CH Beck, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-406-61112-4 .
- Theodor Maunz (abbreviation): Federal Constitutional Court Act. Comment . 2 volumes, loose-leaf edition, CH Beck, Munich 1964–2007, ISBN 978-3-406-56744-5 .
- Klaus Schlaich , Stefan Korioth : The Federal Constitutional Court. Position, procedure, decisions. 9th edition, CH Beck, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-406-63408-6 .
- Dieter C. Umbach, Thomas Clemens, Franz-Wilhelm Dollinger (eds.): Federal Constitutional Court Act. Staff comment and manual . 2nd edition, CF Müller, Heidelberg 2005, ISBN 978-3-8114-3109-6 .
