Conscientious objection to military service

01What does conscientious objection to military service mean?

Conscientious objection is the basic right not to be forced to perform armed military service against their conscience. Art. 4 (3) of the Basic Law reads in the official English translation: “No person shall be compelled against his conscience to render military service involving the use of arms. Details shall be regulated by a federal law.”

That law is the Conscientious Objection Act (KDVG). Under Section 1, anyone who refuses armed war service on grounds of conscience, invoking this basic right, is recognised as a conscientious objector.

Art. 12a (2) of the Basic Law adds that a person who refuses armed war service on grounds of conscience can be required to perform a substitute service. Its duration may not exceed that of military service, and it must have no connection with the armed forces. Under the KDVG this is civilian service outside the Bundeswehr in a state of tension or defence.

The law ties recognition to the decision of conscience of the individual person. Attitudes towards war and violence are the subject of the page on pacifism.

02How does the application work under the statute?

Under Section 2 KDVG, the application is to be submitted in writing or for the record to the Federal Office for Personnel Management of the Bundeswehr. It must invoke Art. 4 (3) sentence 1 of the Basic Law, and a complete CV in tabular form and a detailed personal account of the reasons must be attached.

According to the Federal Office for Family and Civil Society Functions (BAFzA), a formulaic text is not enough. The statement must report the applicant’s own reasons that led to the decision of conscience.

The Federal Office for Personnel Management confirms receipt and forwards the application to the BAFzA, which decides on it. According to the BAFzA, this usually happens after screening. Applications are processed in the order in which they arrive.

The statute names contents of the application, not a form. The competent bodies give binding advice. W3ltfrieden describes the procedure and does not give legal advice.

03Who decides on the application, and what follows a rejection?

Under Section 2 (1) KDVG, the BAFzA decides on entitlement on application. Under Section 5, recognition follows if the application is complete, the reasons are suited to establish the right, and there are no doubts about the truth of the statements or they have been dispelled after a hearing. The BAFzA describes the examination as an examination of conscience that concerns the seriousness of the decision.

Where there are doubts, Section 6 provides first for a written hearing with a period of one month to comment, then if necessary an oral hearing that is not public. Under Section 8, representation is also possible by persons appointed by churches or religious communities, free of charge.

Under Section 7, an application is rejected among other things if screening is refused, the application is not completed within one month of a request, the reasons are not sufficient or doubts remain. A decision can be challenged under Section 9 by objection proceedings, then under Section 10 by court proceedings, in which an appeal is excluded.

For the results of 2025 the Federal Government reports 376 objections, 13 of them upheld, and 106 court cases. By 19 May 2026 three judgments had been given, all dismissing the claim (Bundestag paper 21/6251).

04Who can submit an application?

According to the BAFzA, an application can in principle be submitted at any time by persons who are liable to military service. Under the current legal position, liability covers men aged 18 to 60. The statute expressly names persons who have not served (Section 2 (4)) as well as serving soldiers and reservists (Section 4).

According to the BAFzA, women can only be recognised if they serve or have served as soldiers. A substantive examination takes place only if the applicant is liable to military service.

The application of a person liable to service who has not served can be made at the earliest six months before the 18th birthday, and the consent of legal representatives is not needed (Section 2 (4) KDVG). Section 2 (5) provides an exception of at the earliest six months before the 17th birthday for cases with an application for early civilian service.

05What has changed with the new military service?

According to the Federal Government, the law on the new military service entered into force on 1 January 2026. Conscription itself has been suspended since 1 July 2011. Outside a state of tension or defence, only parts of the Military Service Act apply under its Section 2, such as registration, the declaration of readiness and screening, but not basic military service.

Since the beginning of January 2026, 18-year-olds receive a questionnaire. Under Section 15a of the Military Service Act it asks among other things about interest in military service, height, weight, qualifications and a self-assessment of fitness. Under Section 2 (4) of the Military Service Act this applies to persons born after 31 December 2007. Men born in 2008 are screened first.

According to the Federal Government, the aim is a service on a voluntary basis. Under Section 2a of the Military Service Act, the Bundestag decides by law on introducing needs-based conscription, in particular if the defence situation or the staffing of the armed forces makes it necessary. The BAFzA points out that the right under Art. 4 (3) of the Basic Law remains in place regardless of the suspension of conscription. According to the BAFzA there is currently no active call-up to military service (as of 23.10.2026).

06How many applications were received in recent years?

There are two official counts that do not match: applications received by the BAFzA and applications received by the Bundeswehr. For 2020 the Federal Government gives 137 received by the BAFzA and 142 by the Bundeswehr, for 2021 201 and 209, for 2022 951 and 1,123 (Bundestag paper 20/7858 of 21.07.2023).

The Bundeswehr series continues: 1,609 applications for 2023 (paper 20/13395), 2,998 for 2024 (paper 21/898) and 7,691 for 2025 (paper 21/6251 of 01.06.2026). Of these in 2025, 5,923 came from persons who had not served and 1,576 from reservists, the rest from serving soldiers. From 2015 to 2019 the number received by the Bundeswehr ranged between 126 and 398 a year (paper 19/20480).

For 2025 the Federal Government reports on the outcomes: 109 soldiers, 1,283 reservists and 683 persons who had not served were recognised, 816 applications were rejected as inadmissible and three on substantive grounds. For 2023 it gives 844 recognitions and 126 rejections (paper 20/13395).

07How did objection and civilian service develop in Germany?

Conscientious objection has been a basic right since 1949. According to the Federal Agency for Civic Education, only so-called principled pacifists were to be recognised at the time. From 1956 to 1984 a multi-stage examination procedure applied to all objectors to military service.

Civilian service was introduced at the beginning of the 1960s. From the end of the 1960s the number of objectors rose, and in 1973 civilian service lasted one month longer than military service. In 1984 an amendment of the KDVG replaced the examination procedure for persons who had not served with a simplified procedure, and in 2004 the length of civilian service was again aligned with military service.

For 2001 the bpb gives no fewer than 180,000 conscientious objectors, and in total more than 2.5 million young men performed civilian service. With the suspension of conscription in 2011, civilian service also came to an end, and the much smaller Federal Voluntary Service took its place.

W3ltfrieden describes the wider public debate on war and peace on the page about the peace movement. Civilian service should not be confused with the Civil Peace Service, which has a page of its own. This page describes and gives no advice on whether anyone should apply.