Filing for legal remedy

If you have any questions about your notification, please contact the relevant degree program coordinators or the admissions or selection committee for the degree program in question.

In examination matters there are optional objection proceedings. This means that you can either file an objection to a notification or file a lawsuit with the Administrative Court.

We recommend contacting the relevant Examinations Office before submitting an objection or filing a lawsuit.

1. By post:

A objection must be written in German and signed in wet ink. It should be printed out on paper and sent by post (we recommend registered mail) to the address stated in the notification of legal remedies available. The documents to be submitted with the objection must be submitted as originals. A certified translation is required for documents in any language other than German.

2. Electronic transfer:

Instead of submitting your objection by post, you can submit it by email to zuv-widerspruch@fau.de as an electronic document with a qualified electronic signature. The German Act on Digital Signatures stipulates that a signature card and a card reader are required in order to create a legitimate electronic signature. Information on electronic signatures is available from the Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency). If you would like to submit your objection as an electronic document, please send an email to zuv-widerspruch@fau.de with the subject heading “Zulassung” (admission), “Immatrikulation/Exmatrikulation” (enrolment/de-registration) or “Prüfungsangelegenheiten” (examination matters) to allow us to allocate your objection accordingly.

• If you are submitting your objection on paper by post, please send it to the address stated in the information on legal remedies available.
• If you are sending it as an electronic document with a qualified electronic signature, please send it to the email address zuv-widerspruch@fau.de.

If a decision is not taken on the matter within a reasonable timeframe without good reason, you may file a lawsuit with the Administrative Court. You must wait at least three months after filing the objection before you can file a lawsuit.

Before filing a lawsuit, we would recommend contacting the office at FAU stated on the letterhead of your official notification. By way of precaution, we would like to mention that this does not count as observing the deadline for submission, nor does it extend the said deadline. If the notification in question is not revoked beforehand, you must file a lawsuit in good time for further legal action to be taken. It is therefore sufficient to file a lawsuit initially to ensure that the deadline is met.

FAU is unfortunately not able to accept all common file formats and applications. We can only accept the following:

• Portable Document Format (*.pdf)
• Word for Windows (*.doc, *.docx)
• OpenDocument Text (*.odt)
• OpenDocument Spreadsheet (*.ods)
• Excel for Windows (*.xls, *.xlsx)
• Joint Photographic Expert Group (*.jpg)

The permitted formats must not include any automatic processes or programs (i.e. macros). Files in an unreadable format will be returned to the sender. If possible, please send any attachments in just one file (preferably in PDF format).

The messages which are sent must meet the following processing criteria:

1. The total size of a message including attachments may not exceed 20 megabytes (MB). No more than five files may be attached.
2. Please give “Widerspruch” as the subject and state the date and file reference of the notification you are objecting to. Objections must be submitted in German, in accordance with Section 23 (1) BayVwVfG (Bavarian Administrative Procedures Act).
3. Please ensure that scanned text is legible. File size is influenced by settings for scanner resolution (typically 300 dpi) and the choice of the correct scanner settings (black and white, not shades of grey). You will be informed if the writing is too pale or blurred or the text is extremely difficult to read, and asked to rectify it. This may lead to deadlines being missed.
4. Files should be named as follows:
   • max. 60 characters
   • no commas, umlauts, special characters or accents
   • only one “.” (full stop) directly before the file ending (e.g. “.doc” or “.pdf”)
   • the name should give a clear indication of the contents of the file (e.g. Widerspruch.pdf)
5. If you send your email in a compressed form as a ZIP file you must observe the following in order to ensure that FAU can verify the signature:
   • The ZIP file may not contain any other ZIP files and no folder structures.
   • If you use document signatures, this signature must refer to the document and not to the ZIP file.
   • The ZIP file may be given an additional signature.