It is the court of the last resort for generally all cases of administrative law, mainly disputes between citizens and the state.

The Bundesverwaltungsgericht has its seat at the former Reichsgericht (Imperial Court of Justice) building in Leipzig's district Mitte.

The Federal Administrative Court was established on the basis of Article 95 (1) of the Basic Law by Act of 23 September 1952.

The decision in favour of Berlin as the seat was controversial among the Allied Powers; the Soviet Union in particular was opposed to it.

The official date of the change of seat was set for 26 August 2002 by the Federal Minister of Justice by legal decree of 24 June 2002.