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Human Rights in Germany – A View from Germany's National Human Rights Institution†

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 June 2016

Beate Rudolf
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Abstract

This paper discusses the protection of human rights in Germany through the interplay of constitutional law and international human rights law. It also explores the relationship between specialized human rights treaties on the rights of women, children, and persons with disabilities with “general” human rights treaties and their added value. It will highlight current human rights issues, such as the treatment of refugees, the protection against racist discrimination, and the right to privacy in the digital age.

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Legal Information , Volume 44 , Issue 1 , March 2016 , pp. 50 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016 

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Footnotes

†

Lecture given at the 34th Annual Course on International Law and Legal Information, Berlin, organized by the International Association of Law Libraries, September 20–24, 2015.

References

1 Article 1 of the Basic Law provides: “

  • (1)

    (1) Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority.

  • (2)

    (2) The German people therefore acknowledge inviolable and inalienable human rights as the basis of every community, of peace and of justice in the world.

  • (3)

    (3) The following basic rights shall bind the legislature, the executive and the judiciary as directly applicable law.

”

2 Law on the Legal Status and Mandate of the German Institute for Human Rights (Gesetz über die Rechtsstellung und Aufgaben des Deutschen Instituts für Menschenrechte, DIMRG), Bundesgesetzblatt Teil I (Federal Gazette Part I) 2015, p. 1194). The GIHR was founded in 2001, following a unanimous resolution of the Federal Parliament. It has been accredited with A-status since 2002.

3 Vienna Declaration and Program of Action, A/CONF.157/24 (Part I) (1993), para. 36.

4 UN General Assembly Resolution 48/134 (1993).

5 See, e.g., Decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), Vol. 111, p. 307 (318) (Case of Görgülü, 2 BvR 1481/04); the FCC uses the term two different legal spheres (“zwei Rechtskreise”); English version: http://www.bundesverfassungs-gericht.de/SharedDocs/Entscheidungen/EN/2004/10/rs20041014_2bvr148104en.html. See generally, Rudolf Geiger, Grundgesetz und Völkerrecht, 5th ed. Munich 2010, p. 15.

6 This also applies for international treaties that concern areas falling within the legislative powers of the Länder, such as police or education. In these cases, the Federal Government can conclude the treaty only after having obtained the consent of the Länder, pursuant to a procedure that has been laid down in the Lindau Agreement (“Lindauer Abkommen”), for details see: Martin Nettesheim, Article 32 marginal note 72, in: Theodor Maunz / Günter Dürig (eds.), Grundgesetz, Munich (loose-leaf).

7 According to Article 32 of the Basic Law, Federal law takes precedence over conflicting Länder law (“Bundesrecht bricht Landesrecht.”).

8 As affirmed by the FCC in its order of 15 December 2015 (2 BvL 1/12); English press release at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/-Pressemitteilungen/EN/2016/bvg16-009.html.

9 Supra, note 6, in particular paras 50–59.

10 German Federal Constitutional Court (GFCC), Judgment of the First Senate of 18 July 2012 – 1 BvL 10/10 – para 70, http://www.bverfg.de/e/ls20120718_1bv-l001010en.html (official English translation).

11 GFCC, Decision of the Second Senate of 23 March 2011 – 2 BvR 882/09 – para 52, http://www.bverfg.de/e/rs20110323_2bvr088209.html (German only).

12 Article 18 ICCPR and Article 9 ECHR only differ in that the first uses the term of “fundamental rights and freedoms of others” (emphasis added).

13 See, e.g., CERD, Concluding observations on the combined nineteenth to twenty–second periodic reports of Germany (UN-Doc. CERD/C/DEU/CO/19-22), para 7.

14 CEDAW, Case of Vertido v. Philippines, paras 8.5-8.-8.6 (UN Doc. CEDAW/C/46/D/18/2008).

15 European Court of Human Rights, Case of M. C. v. Bulgaria, application no. 39272/98, judgment of 4 December 2003; Case of Opuz v. Turkey, application no. 33401/02, judgment of 9 September 2009.

16 Of 11 May 2011, CETS, No. 201 (entry into force on 1 August 2014), not yet ratified by Germany.

17 Heike Rabe / Julia von Normann, Schutzlücken bei der Strafverfolgung von Vergewaltigungen, German Institute for Human Rights, Policy Paper No 24 (May 2014).

18 Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding observations on the combined third and fourth periodic reports of Germany (UN–Doc CRC/C/DEU/CO/3–4), para 27.

19 Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Concluding observations on the initial report of Germany (UN–Doc CRPD/C/DEU/CO/1), para 46.

20 See, e.g., Article 2(3)(b) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or Article 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights. For further reflection on access to justice as a human right see: Beate Rudolf, Rechte haben – Recht bekommen. Das Menschenrecht auf Zugang zum Recht. Berlin, German Institute for Human Rights, Essay No. 15 (September 2014).

21 The numbers are unclear, as some of the registered within the system EASY may have moved on to other countries, especially Sweden, and not all are registered. There are no EASY numbers for 2014. According to official statistics, 173.072 persons applied for asylum in 2014; in 2015 the number rose to 441.889 (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, Aktuelle Zahlen zu Asyl, January 2016, p. 4, https://www.bamf.de/SharedDocs/Anlagen/DE/Downloads/Infothek/Statistik/Asyl/statistik-anlage-teil-4-aktuelle-zahlen-zu-asyl.pdf?__blob=publicationFile). However, due to the overload of the refugee authorities, many of those who entered Germany in 2015 have not been able to lodge their request for asylum.

22 President of the Federal Constitutional Court Andreas Voßkuhle, in an interview by the radio station Deutschlandfunk, http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/-verfassungsgerichtspraesident-vosskuhle-man-muss-das.1818.de.html?dram:article_id=342992; Statement of the German Institute for Human Rights (authored by Hendrik Cremer), http://www.institut-fuer-menschenrechte.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF-Dateien/Stellungnahmen/-DIMR_Stellungnahme_Asylrecht_Obergrenze_30_11_2015.pdf (November 2015).

23 Hendrik Cremer, Deutsche Asylpolitik: Gesetzesvorhaben unterlaufen Menschenrechte von Flüchtlingen, Berlin, German Institute for Human Rights, aktuell 5/2014, http://www.institut-fuer-menschenrechte.de/fileadmin/_migrated/tx_com-merce/aktuell_5_2014_Deutsche_Asylpolitik_Gesetzesvorhaben_unterlaufen_Menschenrechte_von_Fluechtlingen.pdf.

24 Statement of the German Institute for Human Rights (author: Hendrik Cremer,) http://www.institut-fuer-menschenrechte.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Publik-ationen/Stellungnahmen/Stellungnahme_des_Instituts_zum_Referentenentwurf_der_Bundesregierung_Sichere_Herkunftsstaaten_AMT.pdf (February 2016).

25 For an in-depth critical analysis, see, e.g., the Statement 4/2016 of the German Lawyers' Association (Deutscher Anwaltverein), http://anwaltverein.de/de/news-room/sn-4-16-zum-gesetzentwurf-der-bundesregierung-zur-einfuehrung-beschleunigter-asylverfahren-33981.

26 http://mediendienst-integration.de/artikel/subsidiaer-schutz-schutzberechtigte-asyl-fluechtlinge-syrer-familiennachzug.html.

27 Hendrik Cremer, Menschenrechtliche Verpflichtungen bei der Unterbringung von Flüchtlingen, German Institute for Human Rights, Policy Paper No 26 (December 2014).

28 Heike Rabe, Effektiver Schutz vor geschlechtsspezifischer Gewalt – auch in Flüchtlingsunterkünften, German Institute for Human Rights, Policy Paper No 32 (August 2015).

29 GFCC (supra note 11), para 97 (“Die Menschenwürde ist migrationspolitisch nicht zu relativieren.” (para 121 in the German version).