diff --git a/common/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/common/exceptions/AuthorizationFailureException.java b/common/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/common/exceptions/AuthorizationFailureException.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a7fcded22e6a36e49bcff22e18ebd6eff2c0cc3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/common/exceptions/AuthorizationFailureException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2008 ETH Zuerich, CISD
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package ch.systemsx.cisd.common.exceptions;
+
+
+
+/**
+ * A {@link UserFailureException} for authorization failure.
+ * 
+ * @author Christian Ribeaud
+ */
+public final class AuthorizationFailureException extends UserFailureException
+{
+    private static final String MESSAGE_FORMAT = "Authorization failure: %s.";
+
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+    public AuthorizationFailureException(final String detailMessage)
+    {
+        super(createMessage(detailMessage));
+    }
+
+    private final static String createMessage(final String detailMessage)
+    {
+        return String.format(MESSAGE_FORMAT, removeLastDotIfAny(detailMessage));
+    }
+
+    private final static String removeLastDotIfAny(final String detailMessage)
+    {
+        return detailMessage.endsWith(".") ? detailMessage.substring(0, detailMessage.length() - 1)
+                : detailMessage;
+    }
+}