In Germany, urgent cases for surveillance must be ratified by a judge within how many days?

• A. 1 day
• B. 7 days
• C. 3 days
• D. 14 days

Answer: (C)

In urgent surveillance cases in Germany, swift judicial oversight is required after the measure starts. The judge must ratify the surveillance within three days. This short window lets authorities act quickly to prevent imminent harm or the loss of evidence, while ensuring a timely check by the courts to protect privacy and due process. If the judge does not ratify within three days, the measure must stop unless the court explicitly extends it, which would involve further review. The other timeframes are not used for this purpose because they either compress the review too tightly or stretch it out too long, undermining the balance between effective policing and constitutional protections.