This translation into English of the leading German-language work on the Federal Constitutional Court gives an overview of the court's history and role as one of the most influential constitutional courts in recent years. The book consists of four extended, free-standing essays written by each of the authors. The essays cover the historical development and political context of the Court; the Court and the constitution; the Court's approach to judicial reasoning; and the Court in contemporary constitutional theory.

"[T]he authors of this insightful and timely series of four essays ... chart the establishment and development of the court and demonstrate how rapidly it established itself, it's function and its centrality to law making and application in post war West Germany ... This is a timely book. It demonstrates that the public and state authorities of a once young and now mature, central democracy, have embraced judicial oversight. The world did not fall in." - David J Dickson, Solicitor Advocate, Journal of the Law Society of Scotland