Dodging the Draft: Federal Constitutional Court Evades Review of Germany's Military Service Law

2002 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Political Climate ◽  
Palestinian Territories ◽  
Explicit Recognition ◽  
Federal Constitutional ◽  
The Military ◽  
Domestic Issue

The incendiary image of German soldiers, serving as members of a proposed UN peace keeping force assigned to the Palestinian territories, formed the emotionally-charged and highly controversial backdrop to the Constitutional Court's recent consideration of the constitutionality of Germany's military/civil service obligation. The conflict in the Middle East aside, the military/civil service obligation has also emerged as a hot domestic issue as the campaign for the September federal elections catches its stride. Given this political climate it is hardly surprising that the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) opted to dismiss, on procedural grounds, two cases that posed distinct but related challenges to Germany's military/civil service obligation. It is, however, precisely the Court's explicit recognition of the politically-loaded nature of questions concerning Germany's military/civil service obligation that makes its decision in the first of the two cases remarkable.

The Role of the Military in Middle East Politics

1953 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 511-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majid Khadduri
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Political Office ◽  
Middle East Politics ◽  
Heads Of State ◽  
The Military

During the past four years several Middle Eastern countries have experienced governmental changes in which the army took an active part. In Syria and Egypt the army deliberately intervened to overthrow discredited regimes and to depose the heads of state. In Lebanon and Iraq the heads of state, themselves alarmed by an intense struggle among rival political parties, invited the army to intervene in order to maintain order. In Lebanon the army refused to crush the opposition, acting only as a caretaker; in Iraq the army agreed to support authority against disorder and the effect of its intervention cannot yet be foreseen.This control of government by the military is indicative both of serious defects in democratic processes in the Middle East and of the eagerness with which Middle Eastern leaders seek high political office. In Western democratic countries, traditions have developed which tend to keep the army isolated from domestic politics, although military advice has often been sought on foreign policy, and persons whose careers have been in the military service are not infrequently elected, or appointed, to high political positions. This is a quite different matter, however, from the military's choosing to occupy high political office through the weapons of its own profession.

Compulsory Military Service and Equal Treatment of Men and Women – Recent Decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court and the European Court of Justice (Alexander Dory v. Germany)

2003 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 299-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Raible
Keyword(s):  
Military Service ◽  
European Court Of Justice ◽  
Equal Treatment ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Council Directive ◽  
Compulsory Military Service ◽  
European Court ◽  
Federal Constitutional

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) decided, in the case Tanja Kreil v. Germany, that Council Directive 76/207/EEC of 9 February 1976 (equal treatment directive) precludes the application of national provisions, such as those of German law, which impose a general exclusion of women from military posts involving the use of arms. The ECJ found that such policies violated the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions. Since this ruling both the Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG – Federal Constitutional Court) and the ECJ have had to confront the question whether the German system of compulsory military service for men is compatible with Article 3.2 and 3.3 of the Grundgesetz (GG – German Basic Law) and the equal treatment directive.

Ein Recht, das die Gesellschaft braucht

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jürgen Kühling ◽  
Hildegard Bodendieck-Engels
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Service System ◽  
The State ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Depth Information ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Federal Constitutional ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

Jürgen Kühling, a judge of the Federal Constitutional Court from 1989 to 2001, contributed to the law in a dedicated and committed way as required by society. He scrutinized legal training, the civil service system and the relationship between the state and the church in Germany. This book is directed at all those who are seeking in-depth information on constitutionality and aim at understanding, what fundamental rights mean for everyday life. The author´s use of crystal clear language makes law ununsually accessible to the reader. Specifically, this book deals with internal Affairs of justice, justice policies and the ascertainment of fundamental rights in jurisdiction as well as with problems and challenges created by society´s needs for security.

The Perpetuation of Gender Norms and White Hegemonic Patriarchy in the South African Defence Force as Represented in André van der Merwe’s Moffie (2006)

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Nolen Fortuin
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Novel ◽  
White Family ◽  
White Children ◽  
White Masculinity ◽  
Party Government ◽  
Compulsory Military Service ◽  
The Military

With the institution of compulsory military service in South Africa in 1948 the National Party government effected a tool well shaped for the construction of hegemonic masculinities. Through this, and other structures like schools and families, white children were shaped into submissive abiding citizens. Due to the brutal nature of a militarised society, gender roles become strictly defined and perpetuated. As such, white men’s time served on the border also “toughened” them up and shaped them into hegemonic copies of each other, ready to enforce patriarchal and racist ideologies. In this article, I look at how the novel Moffie by André Carl van der Merwe (2006) illustrates hegemonic white masculinity in South Africa and how it has long been strictly regulated to perpetuate the well-being of the white family as representative of the capitalist state. I discuss the novel by looking at the ways in which the narrator is marked by service in the military, which functions as a socialising agent, but as importantly by the looming threat of the application of the term “moffie” to himself, by self or others.  

MILITARY COMPONENT OF THE POLICY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION IN THE "STRATEGIC TRIANGLE" RUSSIA – CHINA – USA: REGIONAL ASPECTS

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
pp. 80-95
Author(s):  
D. V. GORDIENKO ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Comparative Assessment ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The World ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Military ◽  
Post Soviet Space

The military component of the Russian Federation's policy in the "strategic triangle" Russia-China-USA occupies an important place in the implementation of Russian aspirations in various regions of the world. The purpose of this article is to assess the impact of the military component of the Russian Federation's policy in the Russia-China- US strategic triangle on the implementation of current Russian policy in the post-Soviet space, in the Asia-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions, in the Arctic, the Middle East and other regions of the world. The paper examines the influence of the military component of the Russian Federation's policy in the Russia- China-USA “strategic triangle”, proposes an approach to a comparative assessment of this influence, which allows identifying the priorities of Russian policy in the post-Soviet space, in the Asia-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions, in the Arctic, on The Middle East and other regions of the world. A comparative assessment of the influence of the military component of the Russian Federation's policy in the Russia-China-USA “strategic triangle” can be used to substantiate recommendations to the military-political leadership of our country. The article concludes that the military component of Russian policy occupies a dominant position in the implementation of the current policy of the Russian Federation in the post-Soviet space, in the Asia- Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions, in the Arctic, the Middle East and in other regions of the world.

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