Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany
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The Basic Law (German: Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is the constitution[1] of modern Germany. It first came into effect in 1949 as the de facto constitution of West Germany.
The German word Grundgesetz may be translated as either Basic Law or Fundamental Law. The word Verfassung (constitution) was not used, as the drafters saw the Grundgesetz as a provisional document, to be replaced by the constitution of a future united Germany. This was not possible in the context of the Cold War and the communist orientation of the Soviet sector of Germany, which later in 1949 proclaimed itself the German Democratic Republic, dividing Germany into two states.
Forty years later, in 1990, Germany finally reunified when the GDR peacefully joined the West German Federal Republic of Germany. After reunification, the Basic Law remained in force, having proved itself as a stable foundation for the thriving democracy in West Germany that had emerged from the ruins of World War II. Some changes were made to the law in 1990, mostly pertaining to reunification, such as to the preamble. Additional amendments to the Basic Law were made in 1994 and 2002.
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[edit] Drafting process
The idea for the creation of the Basic Law came originally from the three western occupying powers. In view of the Nazi usurpation of Germany's prewar Weimar Constitution, they made their approval of the creation of a new German state conditional on:
- a complete rejection of the ideology that the German people are a master race (German: Herrenvolk) - superior to others, born to be leaders, and entitled to commit genocide, or barbaric treatment of those not belonging to it;
- an unequivocal commitment to the inviolability and inalienability of human rights.
The draft was prepared by the (Herrenchiemsee Convent (10 August-23 August 1948), appointed by the leaders of the Länder (states). After being passed by the parliamentary council (8 May 1949), it was ratified by every parliament of the Länder with the exception of Bavaria (Bayern). On 23 May 1949, the German Basic Law was promulgated and came into force a few days after. The time of legal nonentity ended, as the new German state, the Federal Republic of Germany, came into being.
[edit] Important differences from the Weimar Constitution
Basic rights are fundamental to the Basic Law, in contrast to the Weimar Constitution, which listed them merely as "state objectives." Under the premise to respect human dignity, all state power is directly bound to guarantee these basic rights. Article 1 of the Basic Law (in German legal shorthand GG, for Grundgesetz), as well as the general principles of the state in Article 20 GG, remain under the guarantee of perpetuity stated in Article 79 Paragraph 3, i.e., those two cannot be changed even if the normal amendment process is followed. Laws like the Reichstag Fire Decree of 1933 which suspended the human rights listed in the original constitution would no longer be permissible.
The constitutional position of the federal government was strengthened. The government now depended only on the parliament, instead of also relying on the favor of the president as prescribed by the Weimar Constitution. To remove the chancellor, the parliament has to engage in a constructive vote of no confidence (Konstruktives Misstrauensvotum), i.e. the election of a new chancellor. The new procedure was intended to provide more stability than under the Weimar Constitution, where extremists on the left and right would cooperate to remove a chancellor, without agreeing on a new one, creating a leadership vacuum. In addition it was possible for the parliament to remove single ministers by a vote of distrust while it now has to vote against the cabinet as a whole.
[edit] Constitutional institutions
The Basic Law established Germany as a parliamentary democracy with separation of powers into executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The legislative branch reflects Germany's federal structure in which the German Länder were to be represented in the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat. The lower chamber, the Bundestag, was to be elected directly through a mixture of proportional representation and direct mandates. The head of government is the chancellor, normally (but not necessarily) the leader of the largest grouping in the Bundestag, while the head of state is the nonpartisan and largely ceremonial president. The Federal Constitutional Court oversees the constitutionality of laws. Many of the Basic Law's provisions contrast strongly with those of the Weimar Constitution.
[edit] Presidency
The German Bundespräsident (federal president) is the head of state. It is an apolitical and largely ceremonial position. Whereas the Weimar Constitution provided the president with far reaching executive powers, turning him into a de facto substitute emperor, the federal president is now limited in favor of the cabinet and the parliament. His main function is representative and ceremonial, though he remains the formal head of state, signs laws before they can enter into force and appoints federal officials. In contrast to the Weimar president, the new federal president can neither take the initiative to dissolve the Bundestag nor name a new chancellor without a prior majority vote in the parliament.
[edit] Executive branch
The Chancellor, elected by the Bundestag, is head of the executive branch. He or she heads the federal Cabinet.
[edit] Judicial branch: Federal Constitutional Court
The guardian of the Basic Law is the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) whose judgements have the weight of ordinary law. It can declare acts and decrees of the parliament as null and void if they are in violation of the Basic Law. The Weimar Constitution did not institute a court with similar powers. When the Basic Law is amended, this has to be done explicitly; the concerning article must be cited. Under Weimar the constitution could be amended without noticing; any law passed with a two-thirds majority vote was not bound by the constitution. Under the Basic Law, the fundamentals of the constitution in Art. 1 GG and Art. 20 GG, as well as elements of the federalist state, cannot be removed. Especially important is the protection of the division of state powers in the three branches, legislative, executive and jurisdiction. This is provided by Art. 20 GG. A clear separation of powers was considered imperative to prevent measures like an Enabling Act (Ermächtigungsgesetz), as happened in 1933. This act had then given the government legislative powers which effectively finished the Weimar Republic and led to the dictatorship of the Third Reich.
The court cannot itself take the initiative against any given act. The procedure is highly formalized. It usually acts on suits brought forward by members of parliament or other constitutional bodies, as well as on suits brought forward by individuals when fundamental rights are concerned and all other judicial means have been exhausted.
[edit] Legislative branch
Although not a traditional bicameral legislature, the legislative branch consists of two chambers, the Bundesrat, representing the states, and the directly elected Bundestag. The Bundestag elects the Chancellor, the head of government, who usually but not necessarily is the leader of the party of the party with a plurality of seats in the Bundestag.
[edit] Bundesrat
Germany's upper chamber of parliament, the Bundesrat, represents the Länder. It has great influence in legislation, whereas the Reichsrat of Weimar only had a suspensive veto over legislation passed by the parliament. However, a major difference between the two systems is the relative size of the German Länder. During the Weimar Republic, most of Germany's population and 60 percent of its land area was held by a single state, Prussia; its smallest state, Schaumburg-Lippe, had a population of only tens of thousands. A 1932 coup in Prussia, the Preußenschlag, did much to destabilize Germany as a whole, leading to Hitler's seizure of power months later. In contrast, while widely varied in size and population, today's Bundesländer are striclty regional entities.
[edit] Bundestag
[edit] Role of political parties
In contrast to Weimar, political parties are explicitly mentioned in the constitution, i.e. officially recognized as important participants in politics. Parties are obliged to adhere to the democratic foundations of the German state. Parties found in violation of this requirement may be abolished by the constitutional court. In the Weimar Republic, the public image of political parties was clearly negative and they were often regarded as vile. At the same time there was no obligation to adhere to democratic standards (in contrast, the Basis Law stipulates that parties' "... internal organisation must conform to democratic principles", which precludes any party using the Führerprinzip, even internally.) Extremist parties with anti-constitutional agendas like the communists (KPD), right-wing conservatives (DNVP) or the Nazis (NSDAP) could increase their influence without much opposition.
[edit] Other stipulations
[edit] Role of the military
The Weimar Constitution contributed to the Reichswehr becoming a state inside a state, outside of the control of the parliament or the public. The army directly reported to the president who himself was not dependent on the parliament. Under the Basic Law, during times of peace the Bundeswehr reports to the secretary of defence. The secretary is indirectly responsible to the parliament because it can remove the government by electing a new chancellor.
[edit] Referendums and plebiscites
Unlike the Weimar Constitution, the Basic Law only allows referendums on a single issue: changing borders of the Länder. Baden-Württemberg was founded following a 1952 referendum that approved the fusion of three separate states. In a 1996 referendum the inhabitants of Berlin and Brandenburg rejected a proposed merger of the two states. The denial of referendums in other cases was designed to avoid the kind of populism that allowed the rise of Hitler, although it ignores the long-running stability of the Swiss Confederation.
[edit] Development of the Basic Law since 1949
Important changes to the Basic Law were the re-introduction of conscription and the establishment of the Bundeswehr in 1956. Therefore several articles were introduced into the constitution, e.g. Art. 12a, 17, 45a-c, 65a, 87a-c GG. Another important reform were the introduction in 1968 of emergency competences, for example Art. 115 Paragraph 1 GG. This was done by a grand coalition of the two main political parties CDU/CSU and SPD and was accompanied by heated debate. In the following year there were changes to the articles regarding the distribution of taxes between federal government and the states of Germany.
During reunification the possibility of drafting of a new common constitution by the two states and a subsequent plebiscite, as envisioned in Art. 146 (1990), was discussed but was not taken. Instead the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic decided to keep the Basic Law with only minor changes, because it had proved to be effective in western Germany. To facilitate reunification and to reassure other states, the FRG made some changes to the Basic Law. Article 146 was amended so that Article 23 of 1990 version of the constitution could be used to acquire further territories. Once the five "reestablished federal states" in East Germany had joined, the Basic Law was amended again to indicate that there were no other parts of Germany, which existed outside of the unified territory, that had not acceded.
Since then there have only been some minor changes. In 1992 membership in the European Union was institutionalised (Art. 23 GG), in 1994 and 2002 environmental protection and animal protection were included in Art. 20 a GG as policy objectives of state. The most controversial debate arose concerning the limitation of the right to asylum in 1993 as in the current version of Art. 16 a GG. This change was later challenged and confirmed in a judgement by the constitutional court. Another controversy was spawned by the limitation of the right to the invulnerability of the private domain (Unverletzlichkeit der Wohnung) by means of acoustic observation (Großer Lauschangriff). This was done by changes to Art. 13 Paragraph 3 and Art. 6 GG. The changes were challenged in the constitutional court, but the judges confirmed the changes. Other changes took place regarding a redistribution of competencies between federal government and the Länder.
[edit] Early elections
The Basic Law contains no clear provision to call early elections. Neither the chancellor nor the Bundestag has the power to call elections, and the president can do so only if the government loses a confidence vote or a constructive vote of no confidence fails. This was designed to avoid the chronic instability of Weimar Republic governments. However, early elections have been called three times (1972, 1982, and 2005). On the last two occasions this was a controversial move and was referred to the constitutional court for review.
In 1972, Chancellor Willy Brandt's coalition had lost its majority in the Bundestag, so that the opposition CDU/CSU tried to do a constructive vote of no confidence, thus electing Rainer Barzel as new chancellor. Surprisingly, two representative of CDU/CSU voted for SPD's Willy Brandt, so that the vote failed. Nevertheless, the coalition had no majority in the Bundestag, so that a new election was neccessary. (Later it turned out that the secret service of the GDR had bribed the two dissenting representatives.)
In 1982, Chancellor Helmut Kohl intentionally lost a confidence vote in order to call an early election to strengthen his position in the Bundestag. The constitutional court examined the case, and decided that the vote was valid, but with reservations. It was decided that a vote of no confidence could be engineered only if it was based on an actual legislative impasse.
In 2005, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder engineered a defeat in a motion of confidence. President Horst Köhler then called elections for 18 September 2005. The constitutional court agreed to the validity of this procedure on August 25, 2005 and the elections duly took place.
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] See also
[edit] Former Constitutions
- Constitution of the German Empire (1871-1919)
- Weimar Constitution (1919-1933)
- Constitution of the German Democratic Republic (German Democratic Republic; GDR, 1949-1990)
[edit] Others
[edit] External links
- Full text:
- Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. Official English translation, as HTML file.
- Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. Official English translation, as a PDF file.
- Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany. In English, as a PDF file.
- Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland. In German, as a PDF file.
- Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland. In German, as HTML file.
- Former Constitutions:
- Constitution of the German Empire (1871-1919). In English. Full text from Wikisource.
- Constitution of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933). In English, as HTML file.
- Excerpts from the 1968 Constitution of the GDR. In English, as HTML file.
- Other links:
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