Berlin, 14 October 2026. What happens when structural problems threaten the ability of administrative courts in an individual German Land to provide effective judicial protection? And how can the legal system ensure that public authorities comply with court rulings?
These were the central questions raised by Prof Dr Ulrich Karpenstein, a partner at Redeker Sellner Dahs and Vice‑President of the German Bar Association (DAV), at today's expert hearing before the German Bundestag's Legal Affairs Committee on proposed reforms to the Code of Administrative Court Procedure (VwGO).
The German Bar Association welcomes the proposed legislation's aim of modernising and accelerating administrative court proceedings while making judicial decisions easier to enforce. Karpenstein focused on three priorities: giving courts more effective enforcement powers, speeding up proceedings without compromising the rule of law, and safeguarding access to justice where structural problems threaten the functioning of administrative courts.
Giving court rulings greater force
The German Bar Association supports plans to increase the maximum coercive fines that courts can impose on public authorities and to allow such fines to be threatened and imposed repeatedly.
It also advocates bringing enforcement procedures in administrative courts more closely into line with those used in civil proceedings. Where an authority fails to perform an act that can legally be carried out by another party – such as issuing an administrative decision whose outcome is prescribed by law – courts should, in narrowly defined circumstances and as a last resort, be empowered to act in its place.
This would strengthen the ability of administrative courts to ensure that public authorities comply with final, binding judgments.
Faster proceedings must not come at the expense of the rule of law
The German Bar Association also supports efforts to make administrative court proceedings more efficient. But speed must not come at the expense of the courts' duty to establish the facts independently.
Under the principle of ex officio investigation, administrative courts are responsible for investigating the facts relevant to their decisions, rather than relying solely on evidence submitted by the parties.
The German Bar Association therefore recommends dropping a proposed amendment to Section 86 of the Code of Administrative Court Procedure (VwGO). The amendment would expressly state that courts are not required to pursue lines of inquiry unless prompted by the parties' submissions or specific grounds for further investigation. It warns that this provision could be interpreted as placing further restrictions on the courts' independent fact‑finding responsibilities.
A nationwide safeguard when administrative courts can no longer function effectively
Karpenstein also called for a mechanism to protect access to administrative justice if structural problems prevent the courts in an individual German Land from functioning properly.
Effective judicial protection, he argued, must not depend on whether individual Länder have the staff, organisational resources or institutional capacity to deliver it within a reasonable time.
On behalf of the German Bar Association, he proposed establishing a nationwide judicial safeguard for such circumstances. One possible solution would be to allow certain cases to be transferred to the Federal Administrative Court under narrowly defined conditions, where access to effective judicial protection would otherwise be at risk.
Karpenstein pointed to Article 28(3) of Germany's Basic Law, which requires the Federation to ensure that the constitutional order of the German Länder is maintained in accordance with fundamental rights and the principles of the rule of law.
“The allocation of responsibilities within Germany's federal system presupposes that effective judicial protection remains genuinely accessible throughout the country. Where structural failings mean that this can no longer be guaranteed, the Federation must provide a judicial fallback mechanism within the limits of its constitutional powers,” Karpenstein told the Bundestag's Legal Affairs Committee.
