GERMANY Law and Practice Contributed by: Ivana Mikešić and Caroline Schümann-Cohen, R & P Legal
9. Time Limits and Preliminary Steps 9.1 Preliminary Requirements In some cases, which depend on (i) the specific sector of administrative law where the decision is taken and (ii) individual state law, it will be nec - essary to apply for an intra-administrative review of the decision before seeking out an adminis - trative court. This type of review is called the “objection procedure” ( Widerspruchsverfahren ). 9.2 Exhausting Internal Appeals Please see 9.1 Preliminary Requirements . 9.3 Time Limits The time limit for bringing a challenge is one month after the decision has been sent and final - ly come to the knowledge of its addressee. In cases of a third-party claim, the time limit is one year after the decision has come to the knowl - edge of the third party. 9.4 Evidence Required to Initiate a Claim In order to initiate a claim, the claimant has to clearly name the administrative act which has been issued to their asserted disadvantage and also to submit the decision in question. 9.5 Procedural Stages The initiation of the claim will enable the admin - istrative court to summon the files of the public body which has issued the decision. An inspec - tion of the public files will then enable the claim - ant to provide legal arguments and, if necessary, further evidence. 9.6 Initial Sifting Process There is no sifting process to be adhered to or to be passed through. As soon as the claimant has submitted his reasoning and evidence, the court
will decide whether an oral hearing is necessary and when to order a date for the hearing. 9.7 Expedited Proceedings In urgent situations, the claimant may, in paral - lel to the initiated main proceedings, file for an immediate injunction. This will be heard by the same court. The test for an immediate injunc - tion will be a summarised, preliminary and non- binding legal review of the decision challenged in the main proceedings. The court will also assess the factual circumstances of the situa - tion, ie, why it is urgent and what might follow from an order to immediately give way to the claimant’s demands. The court will weigh, at its discretion, the legal and other interests of the claimant against the public interest behind the decision issued by the public body. 10. Grounds 10.1 Scope of Judicial Review: Merits v Process The task of the court is to examine the merits of the decision as well as the way in which it was made: the procedural and the material aspects of the decision will be closely examined, and any of these aspects may cause a withdrawal to be ordered by the court. 10.2 Constitutional Challenge The founding of the Federal Republic of Ger - many after the Second World War is based on a written constitution issued on 23 May 1949, the Grundgesetz . A wide variety of challenges can be brought by governmental and municipal bod - ies, but also by individuals, on the basis that a decision is inconsistent with the constitution. For this purpose, the German Federal Constitutional Court was founded, its procedural order and the various types of lawsuits it will accept prescribed
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