In 1984 the Federal Administrative Court set a rule for everyone who grades an exam. The examiner must take note of the work mit innerer Distanz und frei von Emotionen, with inner distance and free of emotions. The court called this the Gebot der Sachlichkeit, the requirement of objectivity. It derived the rule from the rule of law and from equal opportunity.
The case concerned a take-home paper in Hamburg’s first state exam in law. The first examiner had written remarks that a lower court found almost insulting. The court said that harsh words in the margin, such as Unsinn, nonsense, are not in themselves unobjective. A grade becomes unobjective when the examiner gives free rein to his annoyance at weak work.