50 Jahre Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz – eine juristische Lebensgeschichte

This article takes the 50th anniversary of the Administrative Procedure Act as an opportunity, on the one hand, to pay tribute to the significant codification achievement associated with its creation and, on the other hand, to highlight the developments through which the Act's system-shaping power has been weakened over the past decades. The author advocates a systematic reform of the Act that focuses on its system-forming power and reinforces its original consolidating function.