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Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance

Briefings

German Federal constitutional court permits prosecutors' review of internal investitgation documents seized during a dawn raid on a law firm

2 August 2018

On 6 July 2018, the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued its long-awaited decisions on constitutional complaints (Verfassungsbeschwerden) raised by a German car manufacturer and its US law firm. These followed a dawn raid and seizure of documents by the Munich Prosecutors at the Munich office of the US law firm, in connection with their role in the internal investigation into the so-called "diesel scandal". The decisions are not the end of internal investigations in Germany, but will need to be considered carefully when planning and executing future internal investigations.

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