Overview
- The Bundestag approved the government’s bill on November 13, with CDU/CSU, SPD and Die Linke in favor and AfD and the Greens opposed.
- The law allows courts to keep certain case files in paper or hybrid form until January 1, 2027 to support a smoother transition from the planned 2026 shift to electronic files.
- Public prosecutors may maintain investigative files on paper through January 1, 2027 when police transmit extensive investigation materials non‑electronically.
- The Bundesrat asked for clearer rules, warned of the risk that complex exceptions could trigger revisible procedural errors, and sought full paper handling for files containing documents classified at the ‘VS – Nur für den Dienstgebrauch’ level.
- The federal government rejected excluding appellate consequences for form errors, called secrecy carve‑outs and clarifying administrative discretion ‘worth considering,’ and delayed unified interpreter‑oath changes to January 1, 2028 while extending the law to sign‑language interpreters.