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How to read legal citations in Germany

German statutes are cited by section (the § sign), subsection (Abs.) and the code's short name. Cases are cited by court, date and file number, and often to a collected official series.

Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

Style guide: Local conventions and the abbreviations of the major commentaries. German citations are compact and rely on standard abbreviations. Courts, journals and law schools mostly agree on them.

Real citations, decoded

Click or hover over any underlined piece to see what it means.

A statute section Statute

  1. Section § 823
    The section sign and number. Section 823 is the basic tort provision of the civil code.
  2. Subsection (Absatz) Abs. 1
    Absatz means paragraph or subsection. It is written in the order section, subsection, sentence.
  3. Code BGB
    Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, the Civil Code. Other common codes: StGB (Criminal Code), GG (Basic Law) and ZPO (Code of Civil Procedure).
Full citation: § 823 Abs. 1 BGB

A decision of the Federal Constitutional Court Case

, ()

  1. Official series BVerfGE
    Entscheidungen des Bundesverfassungsgerichts, the official collection of Federal Constitutional Court decisions.
  2. Volume 7
    Volume 7 of the collection.
  3. First page 198
    The page where the decision begins.
  4. Nickname Lüth
    A short name that people use for the case. Many German decisions have nicknames, which are not part of the official citation.

Full file numbers look like '1 BvR 400/51': the 1 means the First Senate, 'BvR' means constitutional complaint, 400 is the running number and 51 is the year.

Full citation: BVerfGE 7, 198 (Lüth)

A constitutional provision Constitution

  1. Article Art. 1
    Article 1.
  2. Subsection Abs. 1
    Subsection 1, which says human dignity is inviolable.
  3. Code GG
    Grundgesetz, the Basic Law (the constitution).
Full citation: Art. 1 Abs. 1 GG

Things to remember

  • Germans write the provision first and the name of the code last: § 823 Abs. 1 BGB.
  • The abbreviation of the court comes first, such as BGH (Federal Court of Justice), BVerfG (Constitutional Court) or BAG (Federal Labour Court).
  • Journals such as NJW (Neue Juristische Wochenschrift) publish decisions with their own page references.

Where to find the text, free

To understand how courts and law fit together in Germany, read the Germany profile in the Legal Families Atlas.

Other legal systems

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TheLawToKnow Tools’s citation guide is an educational overview of standard conventions. Courts and journals sometimes vary, so check the style guide before submitting or publishing. It is not legal advice. Report a mistake.