GERMANY Law and Practice Contributed by: Ivana Mikešić and Caroline Schümann-Cohen, R & P Legal
11. Defence 11.1 Timing and Grounds of Defence Please see 9.5 Procedural Stages and 9.6 Initial Sifting Process . 12. Interim Relief 12.1 Common Forms of Interim Relief Please see 9.7 Expedited Proceedings . If an administrative court finds that a claimant’s rights have been impaired by decisions or fac - tual acts exercised by public bodies, the affect - ed individual can seek to be awarded damages before a civil court. 13.2 Invalidating Legislation In very specific cases, higher regional admin - istrative courts may strike out secondary leg - islation they find to be unlawful. However, this only applies to secondary legislation issued by municipalities, eg, zoning plans or the imposi - tion of local public charges. As regards any par - liamentary legislation, issued at state or federal level, only a constitutional court (at state or fed - eral level) may strike it out. 13.3 Mandating Government Action Through Court Orders Only the constitutional courts (at state or federal level) which have the power to strike out leg - islation they find unlawful can order the (state or federal) government to carry out a specific course of action. When doing this, constitutional courts must observe the balance between exec - utive and jurisdictional power. 13. Remedies 13.1 Damages
13.4 Next Steps Where a Decision Is Found Unlawful Where a decision is found to be unlawful, the court (i) simply lifts the decision and declares it null and void with the effect it is non-existent and non-binding, or (ii) orders the public body to grant the claimant’s demands. 14. Costs 14.1 Mechanisms to Protect Claimants From Excessive Costs The costs of a court procedure and the legal rep - resentation needed are determined by statutory law, based on the value of the dispute. Costs are transparent and any claimant can make an informed decision on the cost risk at hand. 14.2 Public Interest Costs There are no special rules for costs in public interest cases. As the access to administrative courts is limited to claimants who are individually affected or to interest groups who are privileged under tax laws, there is neither cause nor interest in defining public interest cases. 14.3 Wasted Costs There is no applicable information in this juris - diction.
15. Appeals 15.1 Right to Appeal
Germany has installed a specialised branch of dedicated administrative courts where public/ administrative lawsuits can be lodged. Admin - istrative courts have been established on local, regional and finally federal level. A local adminis - trative court’s judgment can be appealed to the
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