Administrative services A-Z

Working as a lawyer is regulated in Germany. In order to be allowed to work in the profession permanently without restriction, you need to be admitted to the bar.

You can also be admitted if you have a foreign professional qualification as a lawyer. To do so, you must submit an application for "Determination of an equivalent professional qualification for admission to the bar" to the relevant judicial examination office.

You can apply for the procedure at the Judicial Examination Office if you have acquired your professional qualification as a lawyer in a country of the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) or in Switzerland. You must also be allowed to work as a lawyer in this country.

If you obtained your professional qualification in another country (third country), it must have been recognized in a country of the EU, the EEA or Switzerland.

If your professional qualification has been recognized in Germany, you can apply for admission to the bar. This is a different procedure.

You can also apply for a determination of equivalence from abroad.

• You want to work permanently as a lawyer in Germany.
• You have a professional qualification as a lawyer from an EU, EEA or Swiss state.
• You have not completed more than half of your minimum training period in the EU, the EEA or Switzerland or your training certificates do not originate from one of these countries? Then you must also have worked as a lawyer for at least 3 years in the country in which you are recognized.

• Proof of identity (identity card or passport)
• Curriculum vitae in tabular form with details of education and professional experience
• Proof of professional qualification as a lawyer
• Proof that you have completed more than half of the minimum training period in an EU, EEA or Swiss country.
• If the proof of training does not come from the EU, the EEA or Switzerland or you have completed less than half of the minimum training period there: a certificate stating that you have worked as a lawyer in an EU, EEA or Swiss state for at least 3 years.
• Proof of your professional experience or other qualifications that demonstrate your knowledge of German law
• Have you already submitted an application or taken an aptitude test in Germany? If so, please also submit a copy of the application or decision.

The Judicial Examination Office will tell you which documents you need to submit in the original or as a certified copy.
You must submit your curriculum vitae and the declaration of previous applications in German. The Judicial Examination Office will inform you whether the other documents need to be translated.

The Judicial Examination Office charges fees and will inform you of the exact costs.

Additional costs may also be incurred (e.g. for translations and notarization of your documents). These costs vary from case to case.

Application

You submit an "Application for determination of an equivalent professional qualification for admission to the bar" to the relevant Judicial Examination Office. You must also submit all the necessary documents.

Equivalency examination

The Judicial Examination Office then compares your professional qualification from abroad with the German professional qualification and checks the equivalence. If your professional qualification is recognized as equivalent, you will receive a notice of equivalence. With this decision, you can apply for admission to the bar. This is a different procedure.

Aptitude test

If your professional training differs significantly from the German training, you will receive a notification of the differences. You will then have the opportunity to take an aptitude test. The aptitude test can be used to determine the equivalence of your professional qualification.

The Judicial Examination Office will inform you of the date for the aptitude test. The aptitude test must take place within 6 months of the decision of the Judicial Examination Office. The aptitude test consists of a written part and an oral part. If you successfully pass the aptitude test, you will receive a certificate of equivalence.

You can use the notice of equivalence to apply for admission to the bar. This is a different procedure.

If you do not pass the aptitude test, you can repeat it.

There is no deadline.

Sometimes documents are still missing from the procedure. The responsible office will then inform you by when you must submit the documents. This may prolong the procedure.

Joint Legal Examination Office of the States of Berlin and Brandenburg

at the
Senate Department for Justice, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination

• § 4 Federal Lawyers' Act
• § 16 ff. Act on the Activities of European Lawyers in Germany
• § 3 ff. Regulation on the aptitude test for admission to the bar

Established European lawyer

You can also work as a lawyer without being admitted to the bar. If you are admitted as a lawyer in another EU or EEA member state or in Switzerland, you can be admitted to a German bar association as an "established European lawyer". You may then work in Germany under the professional title of your country of origin.

If the professional title in your country of origin is "Rechtsanwältin oder Rechtsanwalt", you must also state the name of the professional organization in your country of origin. You may not use the professional title "European lawyer".

After 3 years of working in the field of German law as a member of the Bar Association, you can apply for admission to the bar. You apply for admission to the bar in a different procedure. The bar associations will inform you.

Freedom to provide services

Do you only want to offer services as a lawyer in Germany occasionally and for a short time? Then you may not need recognition. The following applies to the temporary occasional provision of services:

• You must be established in another state of the EU, the EEA or Switzerland.
• You may only use the professional title of the country in which you are established.
• You must meet certain requirements. The bar associations will inform you about the exact requirements.
  

Procedure for ethnic German repatriates

As a late repatriate, you can go through the recognition procedure either in accordance with the law mentioned here or in accordance with the Federal Expellees Act. You can decide for yourself. The judicial examination offices will advise you on which procedure is right for you.

• Informationen auf der Internetseite des Landesjustizprüfungsamts Nordrhein-Westfalen
• Informationen auf der Internetseite des gemeinsamen Juristischen Prüfungsamts der Länder Berlin und Brandenburg
• Informationen auf der Internetseite des Ministeriums der Justiz und für Europa Baden-Württemberg
• Informationen zur Anerkennung ausländischer Berufsqualifikationen auf dem Portal Anerkennung in Deutschland
• Finanzielle Hilfe für das Anerkennungsverfahren
• Öffentlich bestellte Übersetzerinnen und Übersetzer in Deutschland
• Verfahren nach dem Bundesvertriebenengesetz

Federal Ministry of Justice