On October 24, 2002, the Second Senate of theBundesverfassungsgericht(German Federal Constitutional Court) issued its ruling in theGeriatric Nursing Actcase. The eagerly expected judgment not only puts an end to the discussion on the Federation's legislative powers in the field of geriatrics, which has occupied German politicians and constitutional scholars since the mid-1980s, when the drop in the number of applicants for geriatric nursing jobs and the steady growth of the elderly population have led to calls for a standardization of the education for geriatric nurses at Federal level. More importantly, the decision brings clarity to the question of the justiciability of the so-calledErforderlichkeitsklausel(“necessity clause”) laid down in Article 72 para. 2 of the Basic Law.