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We take legal action when the government places people under general suspicion and monitors them secretly and without cause. We take legal action when the government collects more and more personal data or unjustifiably restricts freedom on the internet. We also fight against the excessive power of…

We at the Society for Civil Rights (GFF) stand alongside those who bring our democracy to life: journalists and whistleblowers, democratically active individuals and organizations, scientists, and artists. We are all protected by fundamental rights from the government overstepping its bounds – and…

The GFF supports the freelance journalist and sinologist David Missal in two court cases in order to obtain information from universities about research cooperations with Chinese donors. After a successful lawsuit against the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz in January 2021, another lawsuit…

Together with an initiative started by attorneys, GFF has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Bar Association (Bundesrechtsanwaltskammer, BRAK) over security deficiencies in a mandatory electronic mailbox system for attorneys. Since January 1, 2018, lawyers have been obliged to keep a “special…

The Society for Civil Rights and several refugees have filed a complaint against the house rules of the initial reception centre (Erstaufnahmeeinrichtung) in Freiburg. The house rules, which apply within the entire German state of Baden-Württemberg, disproportionately interfere with the residents'…

Jointly with Christiane Renz from Memmingen and her lawyer Susann Bräcklein, the GFF won a landmark ruling for more gender equality on 31 August 2020: An association may not arbitrarily exclude women from certain association activities. We have now come a good deal closer to our goal: We want to…

During the coronavirus pandemic, many universities relied on online exams. However, out of concern about cheating on digital exams, some universities used technology that undermined the fundamental rights of exam participants: online proctoring, i.e., the digital “supervision” of students with…

Even in the current situation, which is marked by uncertainty, government measures must be carefully scrutinized. We are committed to analysing whether the current government measures are compatible with the German constitution. If there are any unconstitutional restrictions of fundamental rights,…

The GFF is taking legal action against the invasive search and inspection of asylum seekers’ mobile phones by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF Migration Office). If refugees are unable to present a valid passport upon arrival in Germany, the Migration Office routinely, in the…

The GFF supported a refugee's complaint against a police raid at the initial reception centre in Ellwangen (LEA) on 3 May 2018. The subject matter was the search of his room on 20 June 2018 in order to deport him. On 15 June 2023, the Federal Administrative Court heard oral arguments in this case.…