Access to judicial protection in Russia and Germany

Abstract

The grounds for and conditions of access to judicial protection in citizens’ disputes with the state continue to be the subject of heated debates in many countries, including those who great experience in regulating disputes. In Germany, the admissibility of an administrative claim is traditionally associated with the “protective norm” (Schutznorm) and a person’s own interest in protecting his violated subjective public right directly by the action or inaction of public authority. Such a rigid approach creates obstacles for the judicial protection of supra-individual interests and collective rights. In this regard, the German doctrine of protective norms and subjective public rights is facing new challenges. There are two perceived ways to resolve the problem — either recognize the subjective legal nature of collective rights and interests, or expand the object of judicial protection to include violated general rights and interests of a certain or indefinite circle of persons. With the new Administrative Court Procedure Code coming into effect, Russia felt the need to define rights, freedoms and legal interests as an object of judicial protection in disputes between citizens and the state, as well as to define acts and actions of public authority as an object of appeal. Studying the German theory and practice of access to courts in disputes with the state can enrich the Russian legal system. In turn, the Russian experience of social support for access to justice, as well as the introduction of e-justice, can be useful in Germany. The article offers a presentation of the main ideas and results of the fifth joint Russian-German conference. It was organized by the law departments of the Free University of Berlin and St. Petersburg State University with the support of the German Research Society (DFG) and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR).