Legal services; registration for temporary provision by EU citizens

Before providing temporary and occasional legal services in Germany for the first time, you must register with the Federal Office of Justice.

All service providers (natural and legal persons as well as partnerships with legal capacity) who are legally established in another member state of the European Union, in another state party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or in Switzerland in order to exercise a profession eligible for registration (debt collection service provider, pension consultant and legal expert in a foreign law) or a comparable profession may exercise this profession temporarily and occasionally with the same powers as a person registered here in Germany (temporary legal services).

• Notification of temporary activity
• Proof of lawful pursuit of the profession in the Member State of establishment and, where appropriate, evidence of professional experience.
• Information on insurance cover (professional liability insurance)
• Details of the professional title

Before providing temporary legal services in Germany for the first time, you must register with the Federal Office of Justice. You must repeat the registration every year if you wish to provide temporary legal services in Germany again after one year.

If the profession or training is regulated in your country of origin, you may exercise the activity in Germany as soon as you are legally established in your country of origin.

If neither the profession nor the training for this profession is regulated in your country of origin, you may only exercise the activity in Germany on a temporary basis if you have practiced the profession in your country of origin for at least one year during the previous ten years and the registration has been completed.

The Federal Office of Justice may prohibit a temporarily registered person or company from continuing to provide legal services if there are reasonable grounds to assume that they will continue to provide unqualified legal services to the detriment of those seeking legal advice or the legal profession or if they have seriously breached their professional obligations. An action against the prohibition can be brought before the administrative court.

As soon as the Federal Office of Justice has received your application, it will register you temporarily and arrange for the public announcement in the Legal Services Register.

Temporary registration will be carried out as soon as the Federal Office of Justice has received your complete registration documents.