AGLC4 Rule 18.1: Germany: Cases

German cases are cited by court, case number and full date, followed by reported in and the report citation where one exists. A popular name may lead the citation, an ECLI may follow the case number, and decisions of the final courts of appeal should be cited from the preferred series in the table.

AGLC4 page 231

Format

Quoted from the Guide, page 231
Court Name, Case Number, Full Date reported in (Year of Decision) Volume Number Abbreviation of Report Series Starting Page, Pinpoint.

A boxed element is filled in with the source's details; everything outside a box is written exactly as shown.

Formatting

  • A popular case name, where used, comes first, in italics, followed by a roman comma.
  • The court name is in German, roman, followed by its English translation in square brackets.
  • Each German element that is translated is followed by its English translation in square brackets, roman (rule 26.1.1).
  • Commas separate the court, the case number and the date.
  • No comma separates the date from the words reported in.
  • The year of decision is in round brackets, followed by the volume number, the report series abbreviation and the starting page.
  • A comma separates the starting page from the pinpoint.
  • An ECLI, where included, follows the case number with commas on both sides and begins with the letters ECLI.
  • An unreported decision simply ends after the date.

Examples

Quoted from the Guide, page 231
  1. 1
    Bundesverfassungsgericht [German Constitutional Court], 1 BvR 131/96, 24 March 1998 reported in (1998) 97 BVerfGE 391.
  2. 2
    Bundesgerichtshof [German Federal Court of Justice], VII ZR 110/83, 19 January 1984 reported in (1984) 89 BGHZ 376, 378.
  3. 3
    Solange II, Bundesverfassungsgericht [German Constitutional Court], 2 BvR 197/83, 22 October 1986 reported in (1986) 73 BVerfGE 339.
  4. 4
    Pumuckl, Oberlandesgericht München [Munich Court of Appeal], 29 U 4743/02, 4 September 2003.

Preferred report series for the German final courts of appeal

Quoted from the Guide, page 231
CourtName of Court in EnglishReport Series Abbreviation
BundesverfassungsgerichtFederal Constitutional CourtBVerfGE
Bundesgerichtshof — StrafsachenFederal Court of Justice — Criminal MattersBGHSt
Bundesgerichtshof — ZivilsachenFederal Court of Justice — Civil MattersBGHZ
BundessozialgerichtFederal Social CourtBSGE
BundesfinanzhofFederal Finance CourtBFHE
BundesarbeitsgerichtFederal Labour CourtBAGE

See also

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Formats, examples, passages, tables and the forms marked Not are quoted from the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (4th ed, Melbourne University Law Review Association, 2018), with the page of the Guide they appear on. Titles, summaries and explanations are our own.