Germany on Superphysics

Basic Rights

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Last amended by the Act of 19 December 2022

The Parliamentary Council, meeting in public session at Bonn am Rhein on 23 May 1949, confirmed that the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, which was adopted by the Parliamentary Council on 8 May 1949, was ratified in the week of 16 to 22 May 1949 by the parliaments of more than two thirds of the participating German Länder.

The Federation and the Länder

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Article 20: Constitutional principles – Right of resistance

The Federal Republic of Germany is a democratic and social federal state.
All state authority is derived from the people. It shall be exercised by the people through elections and other votes and through specific legislative, executive and judicial bodies.

The Bundestag

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Article 38 Elections

Members of the German Bundestag shall be elected in general, direct, free, equal and secret elections. They shall be representatives of the whole people, not bound by orders or instructions and responsible only to their conscience.

The Bundesrat

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Article 50: Functions

The Länder shall participate through the Bundesrat in the legislation and administration of the Federation and in matters concerning the European Union.

Article 51 [Composition – Weighted voting]

The Federal President

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Article 54: Election – Term of office

The Federal President shall be elected by the Federal Convention without debate. Any German who is entitled to vote in Bundestag elections and has attained the age of forty may be elected.

The Federal Government

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Article 62: Composition

The Federal Government shall consist of the Federal Chancellor and the Federal Ministers.

Article 63: Election of the Federal Chancellor

The Federal Chancellor shall be elected by the Bundestag without debate on the proposal of the Federal President. (2) The person who receives the votes of a majority of the Members of the Bundestag shall be elected. The person elected shall be appointed by the Federal President. (3) If the person proposed by the Federal President is not elected, the Bundestag may elect a Federal Chancellor within fourteen days after the ballot by the votes of more than one half of its Members. (4) If no Federal Chancellor is elected within this period, a new election shall take place without delay, in which the person who receives the largest number of votes shall be elected. If the person elected receives the votes of a majority of the Members of the Bundestag, the Federal President must appoint him within seven days after the election. If the person elected does not receive such a majority, then within seven days the Federal President shall either appoint him or dissolve the Bundestag.

Article 64 [Appointment and dismissal of Federal Ministers – Oath of office] (1) Federal Ministers shall be appointed and dismissed by the Federal President upon the proposal of the Federal Chancellor. (2) On taking office the Federal Chancellor and the Federal Ministers shall take the oath provided for in Article 56 before the Bundestag.

Federal Legislation and Legislative Procedures

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Article 70: Division of powers between the Federation and the Länder

The Länder shall have the right to legislate insofar as this Basic Law does not confer legislative power on the Federation.

The Execution of Federal Laws and Administration

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Article 83

[Execution by the Länder] The Länder shall execute federal laws in their own right insofar as this Basic Law does not otherwise provide or permit.

Article 84 [Länder administration – Federal oversight]

Joint Tasks

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Article 91a

[Joint tasks – Responsibility for expenditure] (1) In the following areas the Federation shall participate in the discharge of responsibilities of the Länder, provided that such responsibilities are important to society as a whole and that federal participation is necessary for the improvement of living conditions (joint tasks): 1. improvement of regional economic structures; 2. improvement of the agrarian structure and of coastal preservation. (2) Federal laws enacted with the consent of the Bundesrat shall specify the joint tasks as well as the details of coordination. (3) In cases to which item 1 of paragraph (1) of this Article applies, the Federation shall finance one half of the expenditure in each Land. In cases to which item 2 of paragraph (1) of this Article applies, the Federation shall finance at least one half of the expenditure, and the proportion shall be the same for all Länder. Details shall be regulated by law. The provision of funds shall be subject to appropriation in the budgets of the Federation and the Länder. Article 91b [Education programmes and promotion of research] Page 24 of 46Service provided by the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Federal Office of Justice ‒ www.gesetze-im-internet.de (1) The Federation and the Länder may cooperate on the basis of agreements in cases of supraregional importance in the promotion of sciences, research and teaching. Agreements primarily affecting institutions of higher education shall require the consent of all the Länder. This provision shall not apply to agreements regarding the construction of research facilities, including large scientific installations. (2) The Federation and the Länder may mutually agree to cooperate for the assessment of the performance of education systems in international comparison and in drafting relevant reports and recommendations. (3) The apportionment of costs shall be regulated in the pertinent agreement. Article 91c [Information technology systems] (1) The Federation and the Länder may cooperate in planning, constructing and operating information technology systems needed to discharge their responsibilities. (2) The Federation and the Länder may agree to specify the standards and security requirements necessary for exchanges between their information technology systems. Agreements regarding the bases of cooperation under the first sentence may provide, for individual responsibilities determined by their content and scope, that detailed regulations be enacted with the consent of a qualified majority of the Federation and the Länder as laid down in the agreements. They require the consent of the Bundestag and the legislatures of the participating Länder; the right to withdraw from these agreements cannot be precluded. The agreements shall also regulate the sharing of costs. (3) The Länder may also agree on the joint operation of information technology systems along with the establishment of installations for that purpose. (4) To link the information networks of the Federation and the Länder, the Federation shall establish a connection network. Details regarding the establishment and the operation of the connection network shall be regulated by a federal law with the consent of the Bundesrat. (5) Comprehensive access by means of information technology to the administrative services of the Federation and the Länder shall be regulated by a federal law with the consent of the Bundesrat. Article 91d [Comparison of performance] With a view to ascertaining and improving the performance of their administrations, the Federation and the Länder may conduct comparative studies and publish the results thereof. Article 91e [Cooperation in respect of basic support for persons seeking employment] (1) In the execution of federal laws in the field of basic support for persons seeking employment, the Federation and the Länder or the municipalities and associations of municipalities responsible pursuant to Land law shall cooperate as a rule in joint institutions. (2) The Federation may authorise a limited number of municipalities and associations of municipalities, at their request and with the consent of the highest Land authority, to discharge the tasks pursuant to paragraph (1) alone. In this case, the Federation shall bear the necessary expenditures including the administrative expenses for the tasks which are to be discharged by the Federation in the execution of laws pursuant to paragraph (1). (3) Details shall be regulated by a federal law requiring the consent of the Bundesrat.

Judiciary

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Article 92: Court organisation

The judicial power shall be vested in the judges; it shall be exercised by the Federal Constitutional Court, by the federal courts provided for in this Basic Law and by the courts of the Länder.

Finance

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Article 104a: Apportionment of expenditures – Financial system – Liability

The Federation and the Länder shall separately finance the expenditures resulting from the discharge of their respective responsibilities insofar as this Basic Law does not otherwise provide.

(2) Where the Länder act on federal commission, the Federation shall finance the resulting expenditures.

Transitional and Concluding Provisions

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Article 116: Definition of “German” – Restoration of citizenship

Unless otherwise provided by a law, a German within the meaning of this Basic Law is a person who possesses German citizenship or who has been admitted to the territory of the German Reich within the boundaries of 31 December 1937 as a refugee or expellee of German ethnic origin or as the spouse or descendant of such person.

Finance

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Article 125

[Continued applicability of law within the scope of concurrent legislative power] Law regarding matters subject to the concurrent legislative power of the Federation shall become federal law in the area in which it applies:

Civil Servants

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Article 131

[Persons formerly in the public service]

The legal relations of persons, including refugees and expellees, who on 8 May 1945 were employed in the public service, have left the service for reasons other than those recognised by civil service regulations or collective bargaining agreements and have not yet been reinstated or are employed in positions that do not correspond to those they previously held shall be regulated by a federal law. The same shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to persons, including refugees and expellees, who on 8 May 1945 were entitled to pensions and related benefits and who for reasons other than those recognised by civil service regulations or collective bargaining agreements no longer receive any such pension or related benefits. Until the pertinent federal law takes effect, no legal claims may be made, unless Land law otherwise provides.

Transitional Provisions

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Article 140 [Law of religious denominations]

The provisions of Articles 136, 137, 138, 139 and 141 of the German Constitution of 11 August 1919 shall be an integral part of this Basic Law.