Electronic legal communication and transactions

Parties to the proceedings may also submit documents, in particular written submissions, to the Federal Administrative Court electronically. From 1 January 2022 lawyers, authorities and legal persons under public law must use electronic legal communication and transactions. The Court has established an electronic mailbox for electronic legal communication and transactions. Electronic documents must either be provided with a qualified electronic signature of the person responsible, or be signed by the person responsible and submitted via a secure transmission method. Secure transmission methods are the special electronic lawyer mailbox (beA), the special electronic mailbox for authorities (beBPO) or a sender-confirmed DE-Mail. A standard email is not sufficient.

Electronic legal communication and transactions are based on section 55a of the Code of Administrative Court Procedure (VwGO) , from 1 January 2022 on section 55d VwGO , and the Ordinance on the technical framework of electronic legal communication and transactions and the special electronic mailbox for authorities. The Federal Government has published further technical requirements for the transmission and processing of electronic documents.

Please note: From 1 December 2024, the Federal Administrative Court is no longer reachable by DE-Mail, because the DE-Mail service provider ceases this service at the end of 30 November 2024. It is expected that in the spring of 2025, the DE-Mail transmission channel will no longer be listed as a secure transmission channel pursuant to section 55a (4) no. 1 of the Code of Administrative Court Procedure (VwGO, Verwaltungsgerichtsordnung) and the other rules of procedure.