Objection

An objection is a formal, out-of-court legal remedy to nullify a burdening administrative act or the rejection of a beneficial administrative act. As a general principle, the later filing of a suit is not possible until the objection procedure has been carried out.

In the course of the objection procedure, the administrative authority once again reviews its decision with respect to legality and expediency.

In accordance with Section 70 (1) VwGO (German Administrative Court Procedures Code), the objection must be raised in writing or stated for the written record at the authority which issued the administrative act (initial authority) within one month after the applicant has been notified of the administrative act.

While it is not mandatory at this time to give the grounds for the objection, we recommend that the party raising the objection explain precisely and concretely why he or she is not in agreement with the decision.

If the initial authority regards the objection to be justified, it will reverse its original decision (Remedy, Section 72 VwGO). If it believes there is no justification for the objection, it will submit the objection to the objection authority for a decision.

The objection authority issues an objection notification. The following decisions are possible in the notification: 

• The objection is granted and the initial decision is revoked; in this case, the authority bears the costs of the objection proceedings.
• The initial decision is revoked and replaced by another regulation within the scope of the objection authority’s competence; it is also possible for the position of the party raising the objection to be worsened, in which case the party must also bear the costs of the objection proceedings.
• The objection is rejected and the party raising the objection is charged to bear the costs of the objection proceedings. 

In accordance with Section 80 (1) VwGO, the submission of the objection has a suspending effect, i.e. the administrative act to which objection is raised may not be carried out until a decision regarding the legal remedy has been issued. Exceptions are defined in Section 80 (2) VwGO and include: 

• Payment requests for public levies and costs
• Non-deferrable orders and actions taken by law enforcement officials
• Other cases as provided by federal law or by state law for state issues
• Cases in which immediate execution is specifically ordered for reasons of public interest or overriding interest of a party by the authority which issued the administrative act or which must decide on the objection.

In this case, compliance with the administrative act is mandatory despite the objection.