{
  "id": "de-ifg-2005",
  "name": "Informationsfreiheitsgesetz",
  "short_name": "IFG",
  "citation": "IFG v. 5.9.2005 (BGBl. I S. 2722)",
  "jurisdiction": "foreign",
  "state": null,
  "state_name": null,
  "country": "Germany",
  "country_code": "DE",
  "url": "https://aletheca.com/laws/de-ifg-2005",
  "description": "Germany's federal access law. The Bundeswehr's military-security remit is a named exemption (§ 3 Nr. 1b), which shapes what the BMVg will release.",
  "statutory_days": 30,
  "business_days": false,
  "statutory_text": "Access 'without delay' and within one month; a rejection must also issue within the month.",
  "appeal_deadline_days": 30,
  "appeal_basis": "one month to lodge a Widerspruch (administrative objection)",
  "appeal_process": "Widerspruch to the ministry within a month, then the Verwaltungsgericht; the Federal Commissioner (BfDI) can mediate at any point.",
  "litigation": "Verwaltungsgericht (administrative court), once the objection is decided.",
  "fee_waiver_standard": "Fees up to €500 by schedule; simple requests are free. Ask for the fee estimate before consenting to processing.",
  "expedited_criteria": [],
  "exemptions": [
    "§3 Besondere öffentliche Belange (incl. military security)",
    "§5 Personal data",
    "§6 Trade and business secrets"
  ],
  "portal": null,
  "turnaround_notes": "The BMVg has said in Bundestag answers that it does not systematically record UAP sightings — the parliamentary answers themselves are the productive records, and they are already public.",
  "quirks": "Many German requests are filed in public through the unofficial FragDenStaat platform, which is not a government service and is not required.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "label": "Gesetze im Internet — Informationsfreiheitsgesetz",
      "url": "https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/ifg/",
      "status": "verified",
      "checked_at": "2026-08-31"
    }
  ],
  "text": null,
  "text_note": null,
  "agencies": [
    {
      "slug": "de-bmvg",
      "name": "Federal Ministry of Defence",
      "local_name": "Bundesministerium der Verteidigung",
      "abbr": "BMVg",
      "jurisdiction": "foreign",
      "state": null,
      "state_name": null,
      "country": "Germany",
      "country_code": "DE",
      "category": "defense",
      "agency_type": "ministry",
      "parent": null,
      "parent_name": null,
      "url": "https://aletheca.com/agencies/de-bmvg",
      "website": "https://www.bmvg.de",
      "reading_room": null,
      "subject_to_foia": true,
      "law": {
        "id": "de-ifg-2005",
        "citation": "IFG v. 5.9.2005 (BGBl. I S. 2722)",
        "statutory_days": 30,
        "business_days": false,
        "appeal_deadline_days": 30
      },
      "intake": [
        {
          "channel": "email",
          "detail": "poststelle@bmvg.bund.de",
          "label": "Ministry mailroom (Poststelle)",
          "verified": false,
          "verification": "unverified",
          "verification_source": null,
          "last_checked": null,
          "automatable": false,
          "preferred": false,
          "reliability": null,
          "instructions": null
        },
        {
          "channel": "mail",
          "detail": "Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, Stauffenbergstraße 18, 10785 Berlin",
          "label": "Postal mail",
          "verified": false,
          "verification": "unverified",
          "verification_source": null,
          "last_checked": null,
          "automatable": false,
          "preferred": false,
          "reliability": null,
          "instructions": null
        }
      ],
      "submission_readiness": null,
      "holdings": [
        "Luftwaffe air-surveillance and quick-reaction-alert records",
        "Answers to Bundestag interpellations on unidentified aerial phenomena (published as Drucksachen)",
        "No standing UAP desk — the ministry has said sightings are not systematically recorded"
      ],
      "tips": [
        "Bundestag answers on UAP are free and already public — search the Drucksachen before filing.",
        "Ask for the fee estimate before consenting; IFG fees can reach €500."
      ],
      "tracking": "IFG file reference issued with the acknowledgement or decision.",
      "confidence": "high",
      "source": "Hand-compiled international layer. Bodies and statutes are real; contact routes are inferred unless marked verified, and none has yet been proven by a delivered letter."
    }
  ]
}