Expellee admission procedure: New application vs. reopening after final rejection

The Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG) granted leave to file a constitutional appeal (Revision) to the Federal Court of Justice, ruling that the plaintiff's prior complaint was admissible and justified, thereby allowing the case to proceed on merits due to the fundamental legal significance of the issue. The dispute concerned whether, within the procedural framework for expellees (Vertriebene), a rejected admission application that has attained finality (bestandskräftig) can be re-initiated as a new application or if the party is limited to a reopening of the administrative procedure under specific statutory provisions. The decisive legal question identified for clarification by the higher court is the interplay between the expellee-specific admission procedures and the general administrative law provision permitting reopening of proceedings under § 51 of the Administrative Procedure Act (VwVfG), with the initial admission grounded in § 132 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 of the Code of Administrative Court Procedure (VwGO) due to the fundamental nature of the rightssituation.