Federal Constitutional Court (Karlsruhe)

 justice authority, courthouse

The Federal Constitutional Court (German: Bundesverfassungsgericht, BVerfG) is a special court established by the German Constitution. Since its inception, the Court has been located in the city of Karlsruhe, intentionally dislocated from the other federal institutions like the seat of the government (earlier in Bonn, now in Berlin) or the head office of the German intelligence (BND) in Munich.

The sole task of the court is judicial review. It may therefore declare public acts unconstitutional and thus render them ineffective. As such, it is similar to the Supreme Court of the United States. However, it differs from the U.S. Supreme Court and other supreme courts in that it is not an integral part of the regular judicial system, but rather installed as a separate judicial institution.

www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/en/index.html

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