In Germany, federal courts ( , singular ) are courts which are established by federal law. According to article 92 of the

Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany () is the constitution of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The West German Constitution was approved in Bonn on 8 May 1949 and came into effect on 23 May after having been approved b ...

, the judiciary power is exercised by the

Federal Constitutional Court The Federal Constitutional Court ( ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law () of Germany. Since its inception with the beginning of the post-W ...

, the federal courts provided for in the Basic Law, and the courts of the

Länder (singular ) or (singular ) is the name for (federal) states in two German-speaking countries. It may more specifically refer to: * States of Austria, the nine federal subdivisions of Austria * States of Germany The Federal Republic of Ge ...

( ''Landesgerichte''). The federal courts are: *Supreme courts, mandated by article 95 of the Basic Law **

Federal Court of Justice The Federal Court of Justice ( , ) is the highest court of Private law, civil and Criminal law, criminal jurisdiction in Germany. Its primary responsibility is the final appellate review of decisions by lower courts for errors of law. While, le ...

(supreme court of ordinary jurisdiction) ** Federal Administrative Court (supreme court of administrative jurisdiction) **

Federal Fiscal Court The Federal Fiscal Court ( ; abbreviated ) is one of five federal supreme courts of Germany, established according to Article 95 of the Basic Law. It is the federal court of appeal for tax and customs matters in cases which have already been he ...

(supreme court of financial jurisdiction) **

Federal Labour Court The Federal Labour Court ( , BAG ) is the court of the last resort for cases of labour law in Germany, both for individual labour law (mostly concerning contracts of employment) and collective labour law (e.g. cases concerning strikes and colle ...

(supreme court of labour jurisdiction) **

Federal Social Court The Federal Social Court (, ) is the German federal court of appeals for social security cases, mainly cases concerning the public health insurance, long-term care insurance, pension insurance and occupational accident insurance schemes. Tri ...

(supreme court of social jurisdiction) *Other courts, created under article 96 of the Basic Law ** Federal Patent Court, a court of ordinary jurisdiction ** and , courts of administrative jurisdiction for disciplinary proceedings against members of the

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

It is also possible to establish military criminal courts (') for exercising criminal jurisdiction during a state of defence or over members of the Bundeswehr serving abroad, however the federal legislature has so far not done so. A Federal Disciplinary Court (') for disciplinary proceedings against Beamte existed until 2004, but this matter has since been transferred to the ordinary administrative courts. The initial versionArticle 95 as it existed until 23 June 1968
/ref> of the Basic Law had provided for a Supreme Federal Court (') to be established, superior to the five highest courts for the different branches of jurisdiction. Such a court was never established; in 1968 the Basic Law was changed to establish the

Joint Senate of the Supreme Courts of the Federation The Joint SenateThe term Senate#Alternative meanings, Senat (senate) in higher Court of appeal, courts of appeal refers to the "Bench (metonymy), bench" in its broader metonymy meaning, describing members of the judiciary collectively (usually five ...

instead. Furthermore, pursuant to article 96 section 5 of the Basic Law, federal law can provide for courts of the ''Länder'' to exercise the Federation's criminal jurisdiction concerning the protection of the state, crimes of war and crimes against humanity. This is currently implemented by making ''Oberlandesgerichte'' the first instance for such cases, with appeals being to the Federal Court of Justice.

References

{{Authority control Courts in Germany