Applicability
All the Grundrechte have a binding effect on each of the constitutional institutions, regardless of whether it is the executive, legislature or judiciary, federally or in one of the states (Länder). It is also irrelevant whether the state was directly or indirectly involved in the violation, whether it acted through public or private law or through legal entities under private law; public bodies are always bound by the Grundrechte (Art. 1(3) GG).
Rights under the German constitution can also be divided between universal fundamental rights (Jedermann-Grundrechte), which are afforded to everyone, and German fundamental rights (Staatsbürgerrechte or Deutschenrechte), to which only Germans are entitled. The reason for the separation is largely due to democratic will and the protection of sovereignty.
The Deutschengrundrechte include the rights to freedom of assembly (Art. 8 GG), freedom of association (Art. 9 GG), freedom of abode (Art. 11 GG) and freedom to work (Art. 12 GG), as well as the right to vote and stand for public office. The restriction of these rights only to Germans does not just refer to German citizenship, German status being regulated by Art. 116 GG. While some Grundrechte apply only to Germans, there are some on which only non-Germans can rely, e.g. right to asylum (art. 16a GG).
Some of the Deutschengrundrechte also apply for other citizens of the European Union with or without residence in Germany regarding their rights to move freely within Germany or to work. Nevertheless it is disputed whether all German fundamental rights apply to them in light of the prohibition of discrimination contained in Art. 18 (1) of the TFEU treaty. This article requires that all citizens of the EU are given equal status and equality of protection under all legal systems in the community.
According to their contents, the Grundrechte can also be divided into freedom rights and equality rights.
Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may include the freedom of conscience, freedom of press, freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, the right to security and liberty, freedom of speech, the right to privacy, the right to equal treatment under the law and due process, the right to a fair trial, and the right to life. Other civil liberties include the right to own property, the right to defend oneself, and the right to bodily integrity. Within the distinctions between civil liberties and other types of liberty, distinctions exist between positive liberty/positive rights and negative liberty/negative rights.
The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, often simply referred to as the Charter in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982. The Charter guarantees certain political rights to Canadian citizens and civil rights of everyone in Canada from the policies and actions of all governments in Canada. It is designed to unify Canadians around a set of principles that embody those rights. The Charter was proclaimed in force by Queen Elizabeth II of Canada on April 17, 1982, as part of the Constitution Act, 1982.
The Spanish Constitution is the supreme law of the Kingdom of Spain. It was enacted after its approval in a constitutional referendum; it represents the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy. It's a written constitution.
The Federal Constitution of Malaysia, which came into force in 1957 as the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya and was amended in 1963 to form the Constitution of Malaysia, is the supreme law of Malaysia and contains a total of 183 articles. It is a written legal document influenced by two previous documents, the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1948 and the Independence Constitution of 1957. The Federation was initially called the Federation of Malaya and it adopted its present name, Malaysia, when the states of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore became part of the Federation. The Constitution establishes the Federation as a constitutional monarchy, having the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the Head of State with largely ceremonial roles. It provides for the establishment and organisation of three main branches of the government: the bicameral legislative branch called the Parliament, which consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate ; the executive branch led by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet Ministers and the judicial branch headed by the Federal Court.
An entrenched clause or entrenchment clause of a constitution is a provision that makes certain amendments either more difficult or impossible to pass. Overriding an entrenched clause may require a supermajority, a referendum, or the consent of the minority party. The term eternity clause is used in a similar manner in the constitutions of Brazil, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Italy, Morocco, Norway, and Turkey, but specifically applies to an entrenched clause that can never be overridden. However, if a constitution provides for a mechanism of its own abolition or replacement, like the German Basic Law does in Article 146, this by necessity provides a "back door" for getting rid of the "eternity clause", too.
In United States constitutional law, incorporation is the doctrine by which portions of the Bill of Rights have been made applicable to the states. When the Bill of Rights was ratified, the courts held that its protections extended only to the actions of the federal government and that the Bill of Rights did not place limitations on the authority of the state and local governments. However, the post–Civil War era, beginning in 1865 with the Thirteenth Amendment, which declared the abolition of slavery, gave rise to the incorporation of other amendments, applying more rights to the states and people over time. Gradually, various portions of the Bill of Rights have been held to be applicable to state and local governments by incorporation into the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of 1868.
Fundamental rights are a group of rights that have been recognized by a high degree of protection from encroachment. These rights are specifically identified in a constitution, or have been found under due process of law. The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 16, established in 2015, underscores the link between promoting human rights and sustaining peace.
A constitutional right can be a prerogative or a duty, a power or a restraint of power, recognized and established by a sovereign state or union of states. Constitutional rights may be expressly stipulated in a national constitution, or they may be inferred from the language of a national constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, meaning that laws that contradict it are considered unconstitutional and invalid. Usually any constitution defines the structure, functions, powers, and limits of the national government and the individual freedoms, rights, and obligations which will be protected and enforced when needed by the national authorities. Nowadays, most countries have a written constitution comprising similar or distinct constitutional rights.
Canada (AG) v Lavell, [1974] S.C.R. 1349, was a landmark 5–4 Supreme Court of Canada decision holding that Section 12(1)(b) of the Indian Act did not violate the respondents' right to "equality before the law" under Section 1 (b) of the Canadian Bill of Rights. The two respondents, Lavell and Bédard, had alleged that the impugned section was discriminatory under the Canadian Bill of Rights by virtue of the fact that it deprived Indian women of their status for marrying a non-Indian, but not Indian men.
The Fundamental Rights in India enshrined in part III of the Constitution of India guarantee civil liberties such that all Indians can lead their lives in peace and harmony as citizens of India. These rights are known as "fundamental" as they are the most essential for all-round development i.e., material, intellectual, moral and spiritual and protected by fundamental law of the land i.e. constitution. If the rights provided by Constitution especially the Fundamental rights are violated the Supreme Court and the High Courts can issue writs under Articles 32 and 226 of the Constitution, respectively, directing the State Machinery for enforcement of the fundamental rights.
The Constitution of Belgium dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility for the government policy and the Trias Politica.
Capital punishment in Germany has been abolished for all crimes, and is now explicitly prohibited by constitution. It was abolished in West Germany in 1949, in the Saarland in 1956, and East Germany in 1987. The last person executed in Germany was the East German Werner Teske, who was executed at Leipzig Prison in 1981.
Title 2 of the Swiss Federal Constitution of 18 April 1999, entitled "Fundamental Rights, Civil Rights and Social Goals", contains a comprehensive and directly enforceable bill of rights, as well as a set of social goals which the state authorities are to pay heed to. A few rights, notably political ones, are explicitly reserved to Swiss citizens, while all others apply to all persons in Switzerland, including legal entities such as corporations.
The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic is a specialized type of court which primarily works to protect the people in the Czech Republic against violations of the Constitution by either the legislature, government or by any other subject that violates people's constitutional rights and freedoms. In this respect, it is similar in functionality to the Supreme Court of the United States, but is distinct from the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic. Of all the various levels of the Czech Judiciary it is the one created with the greatest specificity in the constitution.
The (individual) constitutional complaint is an extraordinary legal remedy in German law. The procedure serves to vindicate constitutional rights under the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany. Constitutional complaints are adjudicated solely by the Federal Constitutional Court.
In business year 2018, the Court recorded 5678 constitutional complaints filed, of which only 92 were granted relief, in total. Such relief may even extend, however, to voiding the statute found unconstitutional.
The constitutional complaint is set out in the Bundesverfassungsgerichtsgesetz, which is the law establishing the Federal Constitutional Court itself, pursuant to GG art. 93, para. 2.
The constitutional complaint was originally codified in federal law, and not initially guaranteed by the constitution itself. It was incorporated into the constitution in 1969, as a political bargain. At this time, constitution was controversially amended to allow the declaration of a state of exception, allowing temporary restrictions on Basic Rights. It was felt that the constitutional complaint remedy had to be enshrined in the constitution to prevent its abolition by a simple repeal of the BVerfGG.
The Federal Constitutional Court is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law of Germany. Since its inception with the beginning of the post-World War II republic, the court has been located in the city of Karlsruhe, which is also the seat of the Federal Court of Justice.
Internationale Handelsgesellschaft mbH v Einfuhr- und Vorratsstelle für Getreide und Futtermittel (1970) Case 11/70 is an EU law case and German constitutional law case concerning the conflict of law between a national legal system and the laws of the European Union.
Richterwahlausschuss is the name of bodies in the German judicial system that elect the judges of the ordinary courts and the special courts on the federal level (Bundesebene) and in some cases also on the level of the states (Landesebene).
The public debate on whether to establish the German language as a national language in the Basic Law arises because the Basic Law contains no such provision, and never has since its entry into force in 1949. Both positions are advocated for by associations, popular demands, numerous politicians and other public figures.
