Back محكمة العدل الاتحادية (ألمانيا) Arabic Spolkový soudní dvůr Czech Højesteret (Tyskland) Danish Bundesgerichtshof German Tribunal Federal de Justicia de Alemania Spanish Saksamaa Föderaalkohus Estonian Bundesgerichtshof Finnish Cour fédérale (Allemagne) French Corte di giustizia federale (Germania) Italian 連邦裁判所 (ドイツ) Japanese
| Federal Court of Justice | |
|---|---|
| Bundesgerichtshof | |
 | |
| Established | 1 October 1950 |
| Jurisdiction | Federal Republic of Germany |
| Location | Karlsruhe and Leipzig |
| Composition method | Election by Judicial Selection Committee |
| Authorised by | Basic Law of Germany |
| Number of positions | 153 judges (as of 15 January 2023) |
| Language | German |
| Website | bundesgerichtshof |
| President | |
| Currently | Bettina Limperg |
| Since | 1 July 2014 |
| Vice President | |
| Currently | Jürgen Ellenberger |
| Since | 2 December 2016 |
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Politics of Germany |
|---|
 |
The Federal Court of Justice (German: Bundesgerichtshof [bʊndəsɡəˈʁɪçtsˌhoːf] ⓘ, BGH [beːɡeːˈhaː] ⓘ) is the highest court of civil and criminal jurisdiction in Germany. Its primary responsibility is the final appellate review of decisions by lower courts for errors of law. While, legally, a decision by the Federal Court of Justice is only binding with respect to the individual case in which it enters, de facto the court's interpretation of the law is followed by lower courts with almost no exception.[1] Decisions handed down by the Federal Court of Justice can only be vacated by the Federal Constitutional Court for violating a provision of the German constitution, the Basic Law.
In addition to the court's appellate duties, a few judges of the Federal Court of Justice act as investigating judges in criminal investigations led by the Public Prosecutor General for a small number of exceptional offenses (such as crimes against humanity and the formation of terrorist organisations). As such, they are responsible for issuing search and arrest warrants, among other things.
The German legal order has different supreme courts for the different branches of its judiciary. The four sister supreme courts of the Federal Court of Justice are the Federal Administrative Court (for administrative matters), the Federal Fiscal Court (for tax matters), the Federal Labor Court (for matters of labour law), and the Federal Social Court (for social security matters).
The seat of the Federal Court of Justice is in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg. Two criminal divisions of the court are based in Leipzig, Saxony.[2]
- ^ Bundesgerichtshof 2021, p. 5.
- ^ "Geschäftsverteilungsplan 2023" (PDF) (in German). Bundesgerichtshof. p. 50. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2023.