Constitutional complaint (Germany)

The (individual) constitutional complaint (German: (Individual-)Verfassungsbeschwerde) is an extraordinary legal remedy in German law. The procedure serves to vindicate constitutional rights (mostly under the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany – Grundgesetz, abbreviated GG). Constitutional complaints at the federal level are adjudicated solely by the Federal Constitutional Court.

In 2024, according to the Court, 4,595 constitutional complaints were decided; of these, 39 were granted. Relief may extend to voiding a statute that is found to be unconstitutional.

The constitutional complaint is set out in the Bundesverfassungsgerichtsgesetz (abbreviated BVerfGG), which is the law establishing the Federal Constitutional Court itself, pursuant to GG art. 93, para. 5, sentence 1.

The constitutional complaint was originally codified in federal law (BVerfGG §§ 90 et seq.) and was not initially guaranteed by the constitution itself. It was incorporated into the constitution in 1969 as a political bargain. The constitution was then controversially amended to allow the declaration of a state of exception (Notstandsverfassung), allowing temporary restrictions on Basic Rights. It was felt that the constitutional complaint remedy had to be enshrined in the constitution to prevent its abolition by a simple repeal of the BVerfGG.