Request judgment
If you have a legal interest in the content of a particular court decision (judgment, order), you can request it from the respective court.
Every German court offers the possibility of obtaining a complete copy of the decisions issued. For data protection reasons, however, the decisions are only published anonymously, i.e. all names and other information that could make an identification of the parties to the proceedings unspecified are made unrecognizable.
The anonymised copy of a court decision can only be issued by the court that issued the judgment or order. For this purpose, an informal application must be made to the court. After receipt of the application, it is examined whether the requested court decision is in principle suitable for being handed over to a third party not involved in the proceedings. If this is the case, the court decision regarding sensitive data of the parties to the proceedings will be anonymised and sent to the applicant. The costs incurred will then be dealt with separately.
If you cannot find the desired court decision on the Internet, you can also request the decision directly from the court that issued the decision.
You should provide the following information:
- Your full address (with telephone and fax number)
- if known: file number of the decision
- if known: date of the decision
- a rough description of what the decision is about
- a brief explanation of your legitimate interest in the court decision (e.g. precedential effect for a particular procedure of your own)
You can submit the request in writing by letter or fax, in person or electronically by e-mail. As a rule, the decision is returned in the same form in which it was requested.
Anonymized decisions can be requested from any court.
The following applies to criminal proceedings:
After the indictment has been brought and after a decision, but before the final conclusion of the proceedings: the court dealing with the matter, § 480 para. 1 sentence 1 2nd alternative StPO;
In the preparatory proceedings and after the final conclusion of the proceedings: the locally competent public prosecutor's office, § 480 para. 1 sentence 1 1st alternative StPO.
Anonymized decisions can be requested from any court.
The following applies to criminal proceedings:
After the indictment has been brought and after a decision, but before the final conclusion of the proceedings: the court dealing with the matter, § 480 para. 1 sentence 1 2nd alternative StPO;
In the preparatory proceedings and after the final conclusion of the proceedings: the locally competent public prosecutor's office, § 480 para. 1 sentence 1 1st alternative StPO.
See "Procedure"
The following applies to criminal proceedings:
The applicant must demonstrate a legitimate interest in the issuance of an (anonymised) copy of the decision and there must be no legitimate interests of the persons concerned that justify a refusal to issue an (anonymised) copy of the decision, § 475 (1) in conjunction with (4) StPO.
Cost:
Cost amount (fixed): 12,50 €
Cost amount (variable):
Document flat rate:
- For the first 50 pages: EUR 0.50 per page
- For each additional page 0,15 EUR
- Transfer as an electronically stored file instead of the page(s): EUR 1.50 per file
- If applicable, data carrier fee: 3.00 EUR
Note: The search in the Internet databases mentioned below is free of charge.
Under certain circumstances, free of charge in accordance with Section 9000 (3) of Annex 1 to § 3 (2) GKG.
[A1] Should be deleted according to the subject matter
The issuance of an anonymous court decision can be requested at any time, without observing deadlines.
There is no legal deadline for processing. As a rule, processing takes place within a few days of receipt of the application.
Forms available: No
Written form required: No
Informal application possible: Yes
Personal appearance required: No
Online services available: No
If the issuance of the court decision is refused, a review of the legality pursuant to § 23 EGGVG can be requested.
A selection of the decisions of Lower Saxony courts can be found free of charge in the State Justice Portal. In addition, the courts of Lower Saxony also publish their own decisions on their respective websites.
In principle, court decisions of the Hessian courts, which the documentation centres consider worthy of publication, have already been published in the state case law database. Only if the desired decision is not yet depicted there, a separate application to the competent court is necessary
Lower Saxony Ministry of Justice
The text was automatically translated based on the German content.
