GERMANY Law and Practice Contributed by: Ivana Mikešić and Caroline Schümann-Cohen, R & P Legal
regional and, finally, to the Federal Administra - tive Court. 15.2 Appeal Forums The administrative jurisdiction basically con - sists of three instances. The first instance is the administrative courts ( Verwaltungsgerichte ), the second instance is the Higher Administra - tive Courts ( Oberverwaltungsgerichte ), and the final instance is the Federal Administrative Court ( Bundesverwaltungsgericht ) based in Leipzig. Appeals against decisions of the administrative courts are generally heard in the second instance by the Higher Administrative Court. In each state – with the special feature that the states of Berlin and Brandenburg have a joint Higher Adminis - trative Court – such higher court is established, thus resulting in a total of 15 Higher Administra - tive Courts in Germany. They are not only appel - late courts but also have first-instance jurisdic - tion for normal control proceedings, eg, disputes about the validity of development plans. The highest administrative court in Germany is the third instance, the Federal Administrative Court. It is a court of appeal and decides on appeals against rulings of the Higher Admin - istrative Courts and, in special cases, on jump appeals against rulings of the administra - tive courts (see below). Its primary task is to safeguard the unity of the law and the further development of the law. To this end, it clari -
fies fundamental questions of federal law. It examines whether the decisions of the admin - istrative courts and higher administrative courts are compatible with federal law and the law of the European Union. In doing so, it decisively determines their interpretation and application. In this respect, the Federal Administrative Court is purely a legal authority. It neither establishes new facts nor – with a few exceptions – inter - prets the law of the states. In certain cases, listed by law, the Federal Administrative Court will decide in first instance. In these cases, it decides as both factual and legal authority. 15.3 Permission to Appeal Whether its judgment can be directly appealed or permission to appeal must be given by the higher court is a matter that depends on the court hearing a case. The lower court may explicitly give way to an opportunity to appeal it if believes the case is of general interest and that direct access to an appeal will be beneficial for the matter at hand. 15.4 Rehearing of Appeal? Once the appeal has been accepted, it will be subject to a rehearing. The Federal Administra - tive Court as last instance will hear the case, but it will not accept new facts; it will decide on legal grounds only.
140 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook