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VerifiedCivil Law

Germany

Europe · Western Europe

Verified legal intelligence sourced from official government publications — last verified 2026-07-29.

67%

Global Legal Coverage Score™

67% of tracked categories verified

Coverage breakdown

Constitution
✓ Verified
Statutes
✓ Verified
Regulations
Not yet verified
Case Law
✓ Verified
Government Gazette
✓ Verified
Regulatory Authorities
✓ Verified
Ministries
✓ Verified
Treaties
Not yet verified
Legal AI Resources
✓ Verified
Court Decisions
Not yet verified
Compliance Guidance
Not yet verified
Official Publications
✓ Verified

Overview

Capital

Berlin

Population

~83.5 million

Currency

Euro (EUR)

Official Language(s)

German

Government structure

Legislature

Bundestag and Bundesrat

Executive

Federal Chancellor and Federal Cabinet

Judiciary

Federal Constitutional Court plus five federal supreme courts, each with jurisdiction over a specific area of law

Constitution

Grundgesetz (Basic Law) für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland

The consolidated text on gesetze-im-internet.de is not the legally authentic version — that is published exclusively via the federal Verkündungsplattform (recht.bund.de), effective since 1 January 2023.

Last amended: 22 March 2025 (Bundesgesetzblatt 2025 I No. 94)

Read the official text →

Court hierarchy

  1. 1

    Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court)

    Constitutional review; acts only upon application.

  2. 2

    Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice)

    Highest civil and criminal court.

  3. 3

    Bundesarbeitsgericht (Federal Labour Court)

    Highest court for labour law.

  4. 4

    Bundessozialgericht (Federal Social Court)

    Highest court for social security law.

  5. 5

    Bundesfinanzhof (Federal Fiscal Court)

    Highest court for tax law.

  6. 6

    Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court)

    Highest court for administrative law.

  7. 7

    Land (state) courts

    Regional and local courts feeding up to the relevant federal supreme court by subject matter.

Statutes

Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB) — Civil Code
View official text →
Civil Law
Bundesdatenschutzgesetz (BDSG 2018)
View official text →
Data Protection
Aktiengesetz (AktG) — Stock Corporation Act
View official text →
Company Law
Kündigungsschutzgesetz (KSchG) — Employment (Dismissal) Protection Act
View official text →
Employment

Case law

Lüth decision (1958)
Bundesverfassungsgericht
Fundamental rights have 'radiating effect' into private law.
Held that free speech (Art. 5 GG) and other fundamental rights must be weighed against competing private-law interests even in disputes between private parties, not just against the state.
View judgment →
Volkszählungsurteil (Census Decision) (1983)
Bundesverfassungsgericht
Established the constitutional right to informational self-determination.
Recognized a standalone constitutional right to control one's own personal data under Art. 2(1) in conjunction with Art. 1(1) of the Basic Law — the foundational case behind modern German and EU data-protection law.
View judgment →

Regulators

BaFin (Federal Financial Supervisory Authority)
Federal supervision of banks, insurers, and securities markets.
Governing legislation: Wertpapierhandelsgesetz (WpHG), Solvency II
Official site →
Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office)
Enforces competition law: cartels, merger control, abuse of dominance, digital-market oversight.
Governing legislation: Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen (GWB)
Official site →
Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency)
Regulates telecoms, energy, post, and rail networks.
Governing legislation: Telekommunikationsgesetz, Energiewirtschaftsgesetz
Official site →
BfDI (Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information)
Federal-level data protection supervision (telecoms, intelligence services, federal bodies).
Governing legislation: GDPR, BDSG
Official site →
Bundeszentralamt für Steuern (Federal Central Tax Office)
Administers cross-cutting federal tax matters — tax IDs, withholding tax, VAT procedures.
Governing legislation: Einkommensteuergesetz (EStG)
Official site →

Official sources

Grundgesetz (Basic Law), official English translation
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_gg/ →
Constitution
gesetze-im-internet.de — federal statute repository
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/ →
Statutes
Bundesgesetzblatt / Verkündungsplattform
https://www.recht.bund.de/ →
Government Gazette
Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection
https://www.bmjv.de/ →
Ministries
Case Law
Official Publications
Regulatory Authorities

Legal AI & tech ecosystem

rechtsprechung-im-internet.de
Official case-law database run by the Ministry of Justice, covering BVerfG and federal supreme court decisions since 2010
Visit →

This page provides AI-assisted legal research and jurisdictional information for educational and research purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice. Laws, regulations, and judicial decisions change frequently. Users should always verify information through official government publications and consult qualified legal professionals before making legal or compliance decisions.

AI Intelligence Report

Generate an executive legal intelligence briefing for Germany, synthesized entirely from the verified data above — the AI never adds new sources, statutes, or citations beyond what's already been confirmed on this page.