Berufsverbot

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Berufsverbot, a word meaning "professional disqualification", is the common name for the Anti-Radical Decree (Radikalenerlass), instituted by West German Chancellor Willy Brandt and the premiers of the Länder on January 28, 1972.

Under this law, people with radical views could be forbidden to work as civil servants (Beamten) and in other public sector occupations such as teaching.

The decree was a response to radical terrorism by the Red Army Faction.

The law was applied unevenly after 1979, and many of the Länder repealed the relevant legislation.

In at least one case (Vogt v. Germany (1), 1995) the European Court of Human Rights found Germany in breach of its responsibilities to a citizen (Dorothea Vogt, a dismissed teacher who was an active member of the German Communist Party) under article 10 (right to freedom of expression) and 11 (right to freedom of assembly and association) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The government subsequently settled with her, providing compensation for her time without full earnings, topping up her pension rights for that period, as well as other modest damages and costs.

[edit] References

Bulletin of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany no. 15 of 3 February 1972, p. 142
Vogt v. Germany (1), European Court of Human Rights, sitting as a Grand Chamber in Strasbourg, main judgement delivered 2 September 1995. Case number 7/1994/454/535. Application number 17851/91.