17 Art. 19 para. 4 GG: Legal Remedies for Violation of Rights by Public Authority

Abstract

This chapter discusses the provisions of Art. 19 para. 4 of the Grundgesetz (GG) that guarantee legal remedies for violation of citizens' rights by public authority. The requirement of effective legal remedies is also an inherent requirement of fundamental rights. In its more recent decisions, the Federal Constitutional Court has drawn on the legal right itself to derive a requirement of effective remedies. The chapter examines the Court's jurisprudence regarding the structure of the fundamental right to remedies for violation of legal rights by public authority, interferences with the right, and justification for such interferences. It also considers cases relating to legal remedies against judicial decisions before concluding with an analysis of the level of judicial oversight of administrative agencies by the administrative courts, taking into account the principle of assessment as applied to occupational examinations.