Court File Number Decoder

German courts assign their file numbers by a fixed system that almost nobody outside the judiciary understands at first glance. Yet it is built logically: a prefix names the chamber, a register sign says what kind of proceeding it is, then a running number and the year follow. Whoever knows the code reads from two handfuls of characters whether it is a constitutional complaint, a civil-law appeal or a tax matter.

The decoder covers the range that comes up in daily life. At the Federal Constitutional Court "BvR" stands for a constitutional complaint by individual citizens, "BvL" for concrete judicial review, and the leading digit names the responsible senate. At the supreme federal courts - Federal Court of Justice, Federal Fiscal Court and the others - Roman senate numerals and their own register signs come in, such as "R" for an appeal at the BFH.

The trial courts are covered too. At the regional and local courts the register sign reveals the chamber and the subject areas: "O" at the regional court denotes a first-instance civil matter, "C" at the local court likewise, other letters for criminal, family, tenancy or guardianship matters. The decoder breaks the file number into its parts and labels each one.

This is useful for anyone dealing with mail from a court without being a lawyer themselves. You get a notice, see the file number and want to know whether it even concerns you and which proceeding you are in. Instead of googling and wading through half-knowledge, you type in the reference and read the classification. It equally helps with citation: when you name a decision in a letter, you know which court and which type of proceeding stands behind it.

Honesty about the limits matters: the decoder explains the structure of a file number, it does not retrieve a case file and delivers no content of a proceeding. It tells you that "3 O 456/23" is a first-instance civil matter at the regional court - not who is suing whom over what. And it does not replace legal advice. It is a reference work that cracks the code so you know where you stand.

Everything runs in your browser. You enter only the file number, nothing else, and the explanation appears instantly. No account, no transfer, no stored searches. If the decoder does not recognize a format, it says so openly and gives you the expected pattern so you can check whether you made a typo.