Germany

Federal Republic of Germany · ISO DEU

Germany has a rated national right-to-information law (adopted 2005, scored 55/150 by the RTI Rating, checked 2026-07-05), and it has a verified EU-level service-rights hook, with the national route still to confirm. Subdivision entries below marked “to confirm” are tasks, not facts.

Your first move, anywhere

Request legal route, responsible officer, fees, timeline, appeal route, and one high-value record: budget, contract, land, hospital stock, service standard, audit, court delay, police complaint, or procurement payment.

Convert the legal right into a citizen test: receipt, tracking number, statutory deadline, written reasons, actual record release, appeal, and proactive publication.

Capture flags to watch: Delay; discretion; opacity; fragmentation; fear; patron dependency; counterfeit transparency

Right to information

Sourced

National lawFreedom of Information Act (Informationsfreiheitsgesetz, IFG), 2005 Official text still to confirm before you rely on it.

RTI Rating score55/150 · rank 129 · Very weak legal framework

Where the law is strong and weakRight of access 0/6 · Scope 19/30 · Requesting procedures 8/30 · Exceptions and refusals 11/30 · Appeals 15/30 · Sanctions and protections 0/8 · Promotional measures 2/16

Source: RTI Rating country data · last checked 2026-07-05

Right to service

Sourced

StatusVerified EU hook; national verification queue

Legal familyEU Article 41 good administration + national administrative procedure/service standards

Legal hookEU Charter Article 41 for EU institutions; verify national administrative-procedure law, silence rules, digital-service law, ombudsman and service standards.

The usability test to runReceipt + tracking + deadline + written reason + appeal + remedy + claimant protection

NoteDo not count a Public Service Commission as RTS unless it creates enforceable service standards for citizens.

Sources: EU Charter of Fundamental Rights Article 41 · FRA Article 41 explainer

Help confirm this

Search the official gazette and government sites for: "Germany" "right to service" OR "public service guarantee" OR "citizen charter" OR "service charter" OR "administrative procedure" OR "ombudsman". Found the law? Send it through the route below.

Inside Germany: 16 subdivisions

Where a subdivision shows a cited law, the citation comes from the named source and the official text still needs confirming. Where it shows nothing, the national law may apply and the local rules are unconfirmed.

What to confirm at your local office, whichever subdivision you are in

Verify statutory deadline and extension rule.
Verify filing fee, copying fee, waiver, and electronic access rule.
Verify internal review, independent review, judicial review, and silence-as-refusal rule.
Verify relevant information commission, ombudsman, court, tribunal, or internal appeal body.
Verify official web portal or responsible officer contact.

Records that should already be published: Budget; procurement; contract awards; payment status; public land; service standards; audit reports; subsidies; court/police/hospital/school records.

Code	Subdivision	Type	Access-law status	Source · checked
DE-BB	Brandenburg	Land	Federal IFG plus Land laws vary; Land law to verify To confirm	source · 2026-07-05
DE-BE	Berlin	Land	Federal IFG plus Land laws vary; Land law to verify To confirm	source · 2026-07-05
DE-BW	Baden-Württemberg	Land	Federal IFG plus Land laws vary; Land law to verify To confirm	source · 2026-07-05
DE-BY	Bayern	Land	Federal IFG plus Land laws vary; Land law to verify To confirm	source · 2026-07-05
DE-HB	Bremen	Land	Federal IFG plus Land laws vary; Land law to verify To confirm	source · 2026-07-05
DE-HE	Hessen	Land	Federal IFG plus Land laws vary; Land law to verify To confirm	source · 2026-07-05
DE-HH	Hamburg	Land	Federal IFG plus Land laws vary; Land law to verify To confirm	source · 2026-07-05
DE-MV	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	Land	Federal IFG plus Land laws vary; Land law to verify To confirm	source · 2026-07-05
DE-NI	Niedersachsen	Land	Federal IFG plus Land laws vary; Land law to verify To confirm	source · 2026-07-05
DE-NW	Nordrhein-Westfalen	Land	Federal IFG plus Land laws vary; Land law to verify To confirm	source · 2026-07-05
DE-RP	Rheinland-Pfalz	Land	Federal IFG plus Land laws vary; Land law to verify To confirm	source · 2026-07-05
DE-SH	Schleswig-Holstein	Land	Federal IFG plus Land laws vary; Land law to verify To confirm	source · 2026-07-05
DE-SL	Saarland	Land	Federal IFG plus Land laws vary; Land law to verify To confirm	source · 2026-07-05
DE-SN	Sachsen	Land	Federal IFG plus Land laws vary; Land law to verify To confirm	source · 2026-07-05
DE-ST	Sachsen-Anhalt	Land	Federal IFG plus Land laws vary; Land law to verify To confirm	source · 2026-07-05
DE-TH	Thüringen	Land	Federal IFG plus Land laws vary; Land law to verify To confirm	source · 2026-07-05

Right to service, all 16 subdivisions: Verified EU hook; national verification queue (inherited from the national status above).

Improve this page

If you can confirm any entry for Germany against the official text, send the law's title, the official link or scan, the office you dealt with, and the date. Every submission is reviewed before anything changes on this site; nothing publishes automatically. Route: the contact on the About page.

This atlas and the Capture Index never mix

The atlas is the open reference layer: every jurisdiction, graded, with unverified entries shown as tasks. The Capture Index is a separate scored product: verified sources only, with right of reply before publication.