scholarly journals The right to a self-determined death as expression of the right to freedom of personal development: The German Constitutional Court takes a clear stand on assisted suicide

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 416-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Horn
Keyword(s):  
End Of Life ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Federal Court ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
German Constitution ◽  
German Constitutional Court ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Right

On 26 February 2020, the German Constitutional Court rejected a law from 2015 that prohibited any form of ‘business-like’ assisted suicide as unconstitutional. The landmark ruling of the highest federal court emphasised the high priority given to the rights of autonomy and free personal development, both of which constitute the principle of human dignity, the first principle of the German constitution. The ruling echoes particularities of post-war Germany’s end-of-life debate focusing on patient self-determination while rejecting any discussion of active assistance to die through a lethal injection administered by a doctor. This brief report discusses the ruling in the light of the broader sociopolitical and historical context of the German end-of-life debate.

scholarly journals Why the European Union is not a State

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 407-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Lock
Keyword(s):  
Critical Analysis ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
The European Union ◽  
German Constitution ◽  
German Constitutional Court ◽  
The Right ◽  
Relative Concept ◽  
The Eu

German Constitutional Court decision of 30 June 2009 on the compatibility of the Lisbon Treaty with the German Constitution – Analysis of inconsistencies – Differences between the EU and a state – Sovereignty of the member states and Kompetenz-Kompetenz – Argument for a relative concept of sovereignty – Sovereignty and the right to withdraw – Critical analysis of BVerfG's assessment of the EU's democratic deficit and denial of the importance of the European Parliament

‘An Association of Sovereign States’

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland Bieber
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Lisbon Treaty ◽  
Court Decision ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
German Constitution ◽  
German Constitutional Court ◽  
Conceptual Foundations ◽  
Fundamental Requirement ◽  
The Eu

German Constitutional Court decision of 30 June 2009 on the compatibility of the Lisbon Treaty with the German Constitution – Continuing sovereignty of member states under the EU Treaty – Extended constitutional limits to European integration (‘eternity clause’) under German Constitution, but these are not violated by Lisbon Treaty – Composition of European Parliament does not satisfy fundamental requirement of democracy but does not violate German Constitution since EU is not a state – Critical assessment of conceptual foundations of decision

scholarly journals Who are "the people" in the German Constitution? A critique of , and contribution to , the debate about the right of foreigners to vote in multilevel democracies

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena Bäumler
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Voting Rights ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Federal States ◽  
The People ◽  
German Constitution ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
Right To Vote ◽  
The Right

ABSTRACT Democracy means power to the people, but it is not always clear who belongs to "the people". The question has become pertinent in the age of migration where large groups of foreigners permanently reside outside their countries of nationality. The economic, cultural, and political integration of these foreigners is one of the pressing problems faced by democratic States in both the developed and developing worlds. One question is : whether resident non-citizens should be granted the right to vote. The answer to this question depends on who belongs to "the people". In federal and quasi-federal States with multiple levels of government the further question arises : whether "the people" is a homogenous concept that applies uniformly across all levels of government. This article contributes to the debate about the right of foreigners to vote in democratic States with multiple levels of government, such as, South Africa and Kenya. It does so by discussing the German response to the problems mentioned above. The dominant view of the German Federal Constitutional Court since the 1990s has been that "the people" only includes "German citizens" , and that attempts by lower levels of government to extend the right to vote to foreigners from Africa and elsewhere are unconstitutional. In this article I explore and critique this conventional view. I then present a positive case for the extension of voting rights to resident non-citizens under the German Constitution. Many of the arguments would apply with equal force to the debate about the right to vote of foreigners in African multi-level democracies, such as, South Africa and Kenya. Keywords: Denizenship, Citizenship, Voting rights, Nationality law, Multi-level government, The people, Foreigners, Residents, Affected persons principle, Democracy.

scholarly journals Along the Italian route of End-of-life: the latest judicial evolution on assisted suicide

Bioethica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Teresa Andreani
Keyword(s):  
End Of Life ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
Pharmacological Therapy ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Life Saving ◽  
Life Issues ◽  
End Of Life Issues ◽  
The Individual

In the last three decades, the dilemma of End-of-Life is one of the most disputed bio-juridical questions Italy is confronting with. By raising highly sensitive ethical, legal and political dilemmas, it has deeply divided the Italian society, the scientific community and the political arena. In the context of a raging controversy, the Italian Parliament has opted for silence. Thus, an evolutive, judicial route has marked the legal frame in response to numerous, concrete demands of recognition of the freedom of self-determination and value of dignity in the final phase of life. In this review article, an overview of the judicial evolution of the complex mosaic of end-of-life issues will be firstly offered through three cases, pillars on which the latest judicial evolution on assisted suicide lays its foundations. Secondly, the issue of assisted suicide will be singularly addressed through the examination of the Cappato case which has outlined the path for the historical ruling of the Italian Constitutional Court, no'242 of 2019 on the constitutional illegitimacy of the crime of assistance to suicide under article 580 of the Italian Criminal Code. Precisely, the Court has pointed out several, concurrent requirements in presence of which an active conduct directly connected with suicide is not criminally relevant: the autonomous and free formation of the individual will, the irreversible nature of the disease, the ongoing practice of a life-saving treatment, the intolerability of the physical or psychological sufferings and the mental capacity to self-determination. Among the numerous, emerging, interpretative questions, the latest Trentini case, in which the requirement of life-saving treatment has been interpreted as inclusive of pharmacological therapy and of every material, sanitary life-saving assistance, will be further evaluated. Conclusively, a cross section of the fragile interplay between the legislative power and the judiciary power will be depicted in reference to the main open interpretative questions related to the enforcement of the constitutional ruling and a portrait of the upcoming scenerios, as the existing legislative drafts and the prepositive referendum question, will be concisely examined.

Defiance by a Constitutional Court—Germany

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franz C Mayer
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Future Developments ◽  
National Courts ◽  
Problematic Issue ◽  
German Constitution ◽  
German Constitutional Court

This chapter considers the highly problematic issue of defiance by a court. Notably, the chapter focuses on defiance by national courts in the context of European integration—a phenomenon which has occurred with some frequency. Still more specifically, this chapter turns to the German Constitutional Court’s approach to European integration. Though the 1949 German Constitution (the Grundgesetz) appears to be more open for European and international cooperation than most other constitutions on the continent, it too seems to be edging toward defiance. As a first step it is thus necessary to take a closer look at the broader picture of the German constitutional landscape, in particular at the German Constitutional Court and its decisions on European integration. Based on that broader account of cases, the chapter then assesses the degree and motivations of defiance and to reflect on possible future developments.

German Constitutional Law

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bumke Christian ◽  
Voßkuhle Andreas
Keyword(s):  
Constitutional Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Equal Treatment ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Basic Law ◽  
German Constitution ◽  
Federal Constitutional ◽  
Book Covers ◽  
The Right ◽  
German Constitutional Law

This book provides a comprehensive summary of German constitutional law, in particular the case law of the German Federal Constitutional Court. It provides first-hand insight into the complex principles of the Basic Law, or Grundgesetz (GG), and an authoritative introduction to the history of the German constitution, the Basic Law, and the methodology of the Federal Constitutional Court. As well as an analysis of the general principles of German constitutional law, the book covers the salient articles of the German constitution and offers relevant extracts of the Court's most important decisions on the provisions of the Basic Law. It provides notes and discussions of landmark cases to illustrate their legal and historical context and give the reader a clear understanding of the principles governing German constitutional law. The book covers the fundamental rights catalogue of the Basic Law and offers a comprehensive account of its intellectual moorings. It includes landmark jurisprudence on the equal treatment of same-sex couples, life imprisonment, the legal structure of property, the right to assembly, and the right to informational self-presentation. The book also covers the provisions and respective case law governing the state structure of Germany, for instance the recent decisions on the prohibition of the far-right German nationalist party, and the Court's jurisprudence on European integration, including the most recent decisions on the OMT program of the European Central Bank.

Paternalismus im Strafrecht der Sterbehilfe

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Anthea Kienzerle
Keyword(s):  
End Of Life ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Personal Autonomy ◽  
Penal Code ◽  
Discontinuation Of Treatment ◽  
The Right

Starting from the right of an individual to determine how and when they will die, this dissertation reveals the paternalism underlying Germany’s criminal laws on euthanasia and investigates paternalistic modes of argument in terms of their normative premises and the legitimacy of arguments for criminal end-of-life interventions. One area of focus is the exploration of the limits of (pseudo-)autonomy-oriented paternalism. Within the context of the manifestations of euthanasia, solutions that are critical of paternalism substantiate a concept of liberal personal autonomy. At the same time, criminal law issues surrounding euthanasia is discussed in detail: assisted suicide, including Paragraph 217 of the prior version of the German Penal Code, measures to shorten an individual’s life in order to reduce suffering, discontinuation of treatment, as well as Paragraph 216 German Penal Code, including an analysis of its legally protected interests, followed by considerations on soft procedural-paternalistic solutions de lege ferenda.

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