Legal System of Germany
Germany is located in Europe. It is geographically situated in central europe, bordering the baltic sea and the north sea, between the netherlands and poland, south of denmark. The country achieved independence on 18 january 1871 (establishment of the german empire); divided into four zones of occupation (uk, us, ussr, and france) in 1945 after world war ii; federal republic of germany (frg or west germany) proclaimed on 23 may 1949 and included the former uk, us, and french zones; german democratic republic (gdr or east germany) proclaimed on 7 october 1949 and included the former ussr zone; west germany and east germany unified on 3 october 1990, with all four powers formally relinquishing rights on 15 march 1991; notable earlier dates: 10 august 843 (eastern francia established from the division of the carolingian empire); 2 february 962 (crowning of otto i, recognized as the first holy roman emperor). The capital is Berlin.
Government Overview
Government Type: federal parliamentary republic Chief of State: President Frank-Walter STEINMEIER (since 19 March 2017) Head of Government: Chancellor Friedrich MERZ (since 6 May 2025) Cabinet: Cabinet or Bundesminister (Federal Ministers) recommended by the chancellor, appointed by the president Administrative Divisions: 16 states (Laender, singular - Land); Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern (Bavaria), Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen (Hesse), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia), Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate), Saarland, Sachsen (Saxony), Sachsen-Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt), Schleswig-Holstein, Thueringen (Thuringia) National Holiday: German Unity Day, 3 October (1990) Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal; age 16 for some state and municipal elections
Legal System
The legal system of Germany is described as civil law system International Law: accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Constitutional Framework
The constitution has the following history: previous 1919 (Weimar Constitution); latest drafted 10-23 August 1948, approved 12 May 1949, promulgated 23 May 1949, entered into force 24 May 1949 Amendment Process: proposed by Parliament; passage and enactment into law require two-thirds majority vote by both the Bundesrat (upper house) and the Bundestag (lower house) of Parliament; articles including those on basic human rights and freedoms cannot be amended
Judicial Branch
Highest Court(s): Federal Court of Justice (court consists of 127 judges, including the court president, vice presidents, presiding judges, other judges; organized into 25 Senates subdivided into 12 civil panels, 5 criminal panels, and 8 special panels); Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (consists of 2 Senates each subdivided into 3 chambers, each with a chairman and 8 members) Judge Selection: Federal Court of Justice judges selected by the Judges Election Committee, which consists of the Secretaries of Justice from each of the 16 federated states and 16 members appointed by the Federal Parliament; judges appointed by the president; judges serve until mandatory retirement at age 65; half of Federal Constitutional Court judges are elected by the House of Representatives and half by the Senate; judges appointed for 12-year terms with mandatory retirement at age 68 Subordinate Courts: Federal Administrative Court; Federal Finance Court; Federal Labor Court; Federal Social Court; each of the 16 federated states or Land has its own constitutional court and a hierarchy of ordinary (civil, criminal, family) and specialized (administrative, finance, labor, social) courts; two English-speaking commercial courts opened in 2020 in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg – the Stuttgart Commercial Court and the Mannheim Commercial Court
Legislative Branch
The legislative structure consists of bicameral Note: note: due to Germany’s recognition of the concepts of “overhang” (when a party’s share of the nationwide votes would entitle it to fewer seats than the number of individual constituency seats won in an election under Germany’s mixed member proportional system) and “leveling” (whereby additional seats are elected to supplement the members directly elected by each constituency in order to ensure that each party’s share of the total seats is roughly proportional to the party’s overall shares of votes at the national level), the 20th Bundestag is the largest to date Lower Chamber: German Bundestag (Deutscher Bundestag) (630 (all directly elected) seats) Electoral System (Lower Chamber): mixed system Upper Chamber: Federal Council (Bundesrat)
Citizenship and Suffrage
Citizenship by Birth: no Citizenship by Descent: at least one parent must be a German citizen or a resident alien who has lived in Germany at least 8 years Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal; age 16 for some state and municipal elections
Historical Background
As Europe’s largest economy and second most-populous nation (after Russia), Germany is a key member of the continent’s economic, political, and defense organizations. European power struggles immersed Germany in two devastating world wars in the first half of the 20th century and left the country occupied by the victorious Allied powers of the US, UK, France, and the Soviet Union in 1945.
This article provides a summary of the legal system and governmental structure of Germany based on the CIA World Factbook. The Factbook is a public domain publication of the United States Central Intelligence Agency.