`legal_lookup`¶

Full text of a single norm by citation. Direct ID-based lookup with no embedding/reranking — faster and more precise than legal_search when the citation is known.

When to use¶

The citation is already mentioned in the prompt: "Explain § 823 BGB"
Pulling the full-text detail from a legal_search hit
Resolving a citation returned by another tool (e.g. legal_find_citing_decisions)

Accepted citation formats¶

Lawbster's citation parser accepts the forms common in German and EU legal practice:

Format	Example
German paragraph	`§ 823 BGB`, `§ 1 Abs. 1 GG`, `§ 280 Abs. 1 Satz 1 BGB`
EU article	`Art. 6 GDPR`, `Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR`, `Art. 5 (1) EU 2024/1689`
CJEU case	`C-311/18`, `T-451/20`
German court file numbers	`BGH VI ZR 175/22`, `BVerfG 1 BvR 16/13`

Parameters¶

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`citation`	string	—	Citation in any of the formats above

citation is the only input — everything else is inferred by the parser.

Examples¶

Classic BGB lookup¶

{
  "tool": "legal_lookup",
  "arguments": { "citation": "§ 823 BGB" }
}

Specific paragraph and sentence¶

{
  "tool": "legal_lookup",
  "arguments": { "citation": "§ 280 Abs. 1 Satz 1 BGB" }
}

Returns only the cited sentence with hierarchy path — perfect for precise quoting in an LLM output.

EU article with letter¶

{
  "tool": "legal_lookup",
  "arguments": { "citation": "Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR" }
}

CJEU decision¶

{
  "tool": "legal_lookup",
  "arguments": { "citation": "C-311/18" }
}

Schrems II. Returns the full decision with paragraph numbers and operative part.

Response¶

{
  "norm": {
    "norm_id": 123456,
    "citation": "§ 823 BGB",
    "title": "Schadensersatzpflicht",
    "content": "(1) Wer vorsätzlich oder fahrlässig das Leben, den Körper, …",
    "law": {
      "abbreviation": "BGB",
      "title": "Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch",
      "jurisdiction": "de",
      "version_date": "2024-10-01",
      "is_current": true
    },
    "hierarchy": {
      "buch": "Book 2 — Law of Obligations",
      "abschnitt": "Section 8",
      "titel": "Title 27 — Torts"
    },
    "source_url": "https://...official-source.../...",
    "last_changed": "2002-01-02"
  },
  "hint": "Use legal_get_context to retrieve neighbouring norms (§§ 821–826)."
}

Errors¶

Error	Meaning	Action
`INVALID_CITATION`	Citation can't be parsed	Check format — see accepted formats above
`NORM_NOT_FOUND`	Citation parses but not in index	Typo? Try `legal_search` for an alternative phrasing
`LAW_NOT_FOUND`	Unknown law	Call `legal_list_laws` to find the correct abbreviation

Tips¶

Plain text beats special characters. § 823 BGB, Paragraf 823 BGB and 823 BGB all work — the parser is tolerant.

Multiple lookups: use legal_lookup_batch. When the LLM needs 5+ norms at once, the batch endpoint is much more efficient (1 instead of 5 tool roundtrips).

Follow-up: legal_get_context. Often useful after a lookup: pull surrounding norms for interpretive context.

Follow-up: legal_find_citing_decisions. What does BGH say about § 823? One more tool call.

legal_lookup¶