Court organization in Germany
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The organization of courts in Germany includes the establishment of federal and state courts ( Art. 92 GG ).
A distinction is made between constitutional jurisdiction according to Article 95 of the Basic Law and the specialized jurisdiction in the broader sense, which is mentioned as a distinction from constitutional jurisdiction.
Specialized jurisdiction consists of five branches:
- ordinary jurisdiction
- Administrative jurisdiction
- Labor jurisdiction
- Social justice
- Financial jurisdiction .
Specialized jurisdiction in the narrower sense means the courts without the ordinary courts.
Exceptional courts are not permitted ( Article 101, Paragraph 1, Sentence 1 of the Basic Law).
Constitutional jurisdiction
The Federal Constitutional Court performs the function of the constitutional court at federal level. There are also constitutional courts of the federal states. There is no instance relationship between the constitutional courts of the federal states and the Federal Constitutional Court.
The most important institution of constitutional jurisdiction at federal level is the constitutional complaint , which accounts for 90% of all proceedings before the Federal Constitutional Court. In addition, the constitutional courts are also responsible, in particular, for judicial review procedures , electoral examinations, party bans, disputes between organs or disputes of a constitutional nature between the federal government and the states or an individual state as well as between states among themselves.
Ordinary jurisdiction
The ordinary courts exercise criminal and civil jurisdiction (including matters of voluntary jurisdiction ).
Ordinary jurisdiction is structured in four stages. There are
- the Federal Court of Justice ,
- the higher regional courts (in Berlin chamber court ),
- the regional courts and
- the local courts .
In addition, there is the Federal Patent Court as a special court . Since its decisions are to be challenged at the Federal Court of Justice, this is also counted as part of ordinary jurisdiction.
Labor jurisdiction
The labor courts are responsible in particular for disputes arising from the employment relationship, for disputes between the parties to the collective bargaining agreement and for disputes in connection with the works constitution.
Labor jurisdiction is structured in three stages. There are
- the Federal Labor Court ,
- the state labor courts and
- the labor courts .
In the labor courts, honorary judges, who are appointed from among the employees and employers, take part in the adjudication.
Administrative jurisdiction
The administrative courts are responsible for disputes under public law that are not of a constitutional nature ( Section 40 (1) S. VwGO ). The demarcation to the civil courts of the ordinary jurisdiction and the social jurisdiction is sometimes quite complicated and also controversial.
The administrative jurisdiction is structured on three levels. There are
- the Federal Administrative Court ,
- the higher administrative courts (sometimes also called administrative court ) and
- the administrative courts .
The military service courts form a special administrative jurisdiction of the federal government .
Social justice
The social courts are responsible in particular for disputes that arise from social law. The distinction between social and administrative jurisdiction results from the provisions of the Social Court Act .
The social justice system has three levels. There are
- the Federal Social Court ,
- the regional social courts and
- the social courts .
In the social justice system, honorary judges take part in the adjudication.
Financial jurisdiction
The tax jurisdiction decides on public law disputes in tax matters, i.e. disputes about federal and state taxes and customs as well as professional disputes of tax advisors under the Tax Advisory Act. The delimitation of the financial jurisdiction from the administrative jurisdiction is made by listing the competences of the tax courts according to the tax court order .
The financial jurisdiction is structured in two stages. There are
- the Federal Fiscal Court and
- the finance courts .
statistics
As of May 15, 2017
| country | VfGb. | ordinary Gb. | Arbeitsgb. | Verwaltungsgb. | Social gb. | FinGb. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AG | LG | OLG | ArbG | LAG | VG | OVG / VGH |
SG | LSG | FG | ||
 BW
|
1 | 108 | 17th | 2 | 9 | 1 | 4th | 1 | 8th | 1 | 1 |
 BY
|
1 | 73 | 22nd | 3 | 11 | 2 | 6th | 1 | 7th | 1 | 2 |
 BE
|
1 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - a | - a |
 BB
|
1 | 24 | 4th | 1 | 6th | - b | 3 | - b | 4th | 1 | 1 |
 HB
|
1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - c | 1 |
 HH
|
1 | 8th | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
 HE
|
1 | 41 | 9 | 1 | 7th | 1 | 5 | 1 | 7th | 1 | 1 |
 MV
|
1 | 10 | 4th | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
 NI
|
1 | 80 | 11 | 3 | 15th | 1 | 7th | 1 | 8th | 1 | 1 |
 NW
|
1 | 129 | 19th | 3 | 30th | 3 | 7th | 1 | 8th | 1 | 3 |
 RP
|
1 | 46 | 8th | 2 | 5 | 1 | 4th | 1 | 4th | 1 | 1 |
 SL
|
1 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
 SN
|
1 | 25th | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
 ST
|
1 | 25th | 4th | 1 | 4th | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
 SH
|
1 | 22nd | 4th | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4th | 1 | 1 |
 TH
|
1 | 23 | 4th | 1 | 4th | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4th | 1 | 1 |
| total | 16 | 638 | 115 | 24 | 110 | 18th | 51 | 15th | 67 | 14th | 18th |
| Federation | BVerfG | BGH, BPatG | BAG | BVerwG, 2 TDG | BSG | BFH | |||||
Individual evidence
- ↑ BMJV : Federal and State Courts on May 15, 2017 (without service and honorary jurisdiction) [error there: number of LAGs in SL not 8 , but 1 ]; Figures up to 2010 can be found in the Statistical Yearbook for the Federal Republic of Germany (most recently 2011 p. 270 ( memento of March 3, 2017 in the Internet Archive ))
