European Databases | Gesetze & Rechtsprechung im Internet

“Gesetze im Internet” and “Rechtsprechung im Internet“ are German legal databases created on the initiative of the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Federal Office of Justice. The databases provide access to the law and case law of Germany.

• „Gesetze im Internet“ gives access to almost the entire applicable federal law of Germany. The documents are shown in a consolidated version, meaning that amendments are automatically incorporated in the provided text of law.
• The database is updated daily. The latest law gazettes can be found under the tab “Aktualitätendienst”.
• "Gesetze im Internet" offers three search-options: The first option is to use the alphabetically sorted list to navigate through the database. The second one is called “Titelsuche”, here the database will only consider the title of the law for its search query. Finally, the third option is the common full-text search.
• Next to that, the database provides a list of shortcuts for a quicker navigation through the website, links to different websites, for example to an overview of the databases concerning the law of the different states of Germany and a help-page with additional information.


• The single laws are enhanced with interactive tables of content for a more user friendly experience and are available in HTML-, PDF-, XML- and ePUB-Format for print and download.
• All laws are written in German, but some are also translated into English. Have a look, for example, at the German Civil Code. The translated versions of the law are of course not binding.

• “Rechtsprechung im Internet” provides case law of the highest courts in Germany. Amongst them are for example the Federal Constitutional Court, the Federal Court of Justice and the Federal Patent Court.
• The courts decisions are available as of 2010, expressed in numbers the database consists to this date of approximately 62.900 decisions. They are published anonymised and for the most part in their full length. The database is updated daily.
• "Rechtsprechung im Internet" offers a simple search (by keyword) and an advanced search (by different parameters, like deciding court and date). Results that were already viewed are marked of, for a better navigation through them. "Tips and Tricks" on how to search efficiently are also provided, for example to use "*" to replace any number of characters of your search keyword.
• In a short summary the main facts of a decision are presented, for example the date of the ruling, the ruling senate, the concerned civil law, the guiding principles obtained by the court decision, the previous course of proceedings and the ECLI.
• The documents are available in HTML-, PDF- and XML-Format for print and download. They are only provided in German.