Federal Court of Justice


The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe is the highest court in the system of ordinary jurisdiction in Germany. It is the supreme court in all matters of criminal and private law. A decision handed down by the BGH can be reversed only by the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany in the rare cases that the Constitutional Court rules on constitutionality.

History

Before the Federal Court of Justice of Germany was created in its present form, Germany had several highest courts. As early as 1495 there was the so-called Reichskammergericht, which existed until 1806. As from 1870, in the time of the North German Confederation, there was the Bundesoberhandelsgericht in Leipzig. Later, in 1871, it was renamed to Reichsoberhandelsgericht and its area of responsibility was amplified as well. This court was unsoldered by the Reichsgericht at October 1, 1879, which was also in Leipzig. On 1 October 1950, five years after the German Reich had collapsed, the Bundesgerichtshof —as it exists nowadays— was founded.
Together with the Federal Administrative Court of Germany, the Federal Finance Court of Germany, the Federal Labor Court of Germany and the Federal Social Court of Germany, the Federal Court of Justice is one of the highest courts of Germany today, located in Karlsruhe and Leipzig.

Organization and functions

The Federal Court of Justice of Germany is subdivided in twenty-five senates:
Twelve are civil panels, five are the criminal panels and eight are special panels.
The Federal Court of Justice is to protect the unity of the jurisdiction and to develop the law. It usually just reconsiders the legal assessment of a case as a court of last resort. To that effect, it can be differentiated in the area of responsibility of the Federal Court of Justice:
In civil law, it reconsiders decrees of the regional courts and of the regional appeal courts. In some special cases, it reconsiders first-instance decrees of the local courts and the regional courts. It can decide that an application for revision is improper the or that it is valid, when it decides the case.
In criminal law, it has to decide about applications for revision against first-instance decrees of the regional courts the regional appeal courts. It has to decide whether an application is blatantly unreasonable defendant. It can then decide without a main trial. In any other case, it decides the legal remedy after a main trial.
Finally, it decides the Vorlagesachen. If a regional appeal court plans to differ from a decision of another regional appeal court or a decision of the Federal Court of Justice, it has to inform the Federal Court of Justice, which decides the case finally and protects the unity of the jurisdiction.
Since 2000, its decisions have been published on its official website.

Judges

Judges of the Federal Court of Justice are selected by an electoral committee, which consists of the Secretaries of Justice of the 16 German Bundesländer and of 16 representatives appointed by the German Federal Parliament. Once a judge has been chosen by this committee, he or she is appointed by the President of Germany. Individuals who do not meet the personal requirements for lifetime judicial appointments are not eligible; in particular, individuals must be German citizens and must have the necessary educational background. To be appointed as a judge at the Federal Court of Justice, an individual must, in addition, be 35 years of age or older. Once appointed, the presidium of Federal Court of Justice assigns the new judge to one or more panels.
As judges for life, judges of the Federal Court of Justice must retire upon reaching the retirement age. The retirement age is between 65 and 67 years, depending on the year of birth.

Presidents

nametook officeleft office
1Hermann Weinkauff 1 October 195031 March 1960
2Bruno Heusinger 1 April 196031 March 1968
3Robert Fischer 1. April 196830. September 1977
4Gerd Pfeiffer 1 October 197731 December 1987
5Walter Odersky 1 January 198831 July 1996
6Karlmann Geiß 1 August 199631 May 2000
7Günter Hirsch 15 July 200031 January 2008
8Klaus Tolksdorf 1 February 200831 January 2014
9Bettina Limperg 1 July 2014-

Vice Presidents

In all civil cases heard by the Federal Court of Justice, the parties need to be represented by an attorney who has been specifically admitted to the bar at the Federal Court of Justice . This admission is the only 'special' admission within the German court system; ordinarilly, an attorney admitted to the bar is permitted to practice before any court. Conversely, an attorney at the Federal Court of Justice is only allowed to practice before the Federal Court of Justice, other federal courts of last instance, the Joint Senate of the Supreme Courts of the Federation and the Federal Constitutional Court.
Admission to the bar at the Federal Court of Justice is highly selective; as of July 2020, only 40 attorneys are so admitted. Candidates for admission are nominated by an electoral committee and are then chosen and appointed by the Federal Ministry of Justice.
The requirement for a representative specifically admitted to the Federal Court of Justice does not apply in criminal cases. Here, representation by any lawyer admitted to the bar in Germany suffices.