The Basic Law and Fundamental Rights

What the Basic Law is

The constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany is called the Basic Law. The Parliamentary Council (Parlamentarischer Rat) drafted it in 1948 and 1949. It was promulgated on 23 May 1949.

The Basic Law stands above all other laws. All state bodies must abide by it. The first 19 articles contain the fundamental rights. They protect the individual from the state. Many fundamental rights apply to all people in Germany, some only to Germans.

Human dignity comes first

Article 1 of the Basic Law begins with its most important sentence: “Human dignity shall be inviolable”. All state authority must respect and protect it. The other fundamental rights build on this one. The mothers and fathers of the Basic Law thereby drew a lesson from the time of National Socialism. The state should no longer be able to curtail the rights of the individual at will.

The Basic Law protects equality before the law: everyone is treated according to the same rules. That does not mean, however, that everyone must have the same amount of money; no such rule exists in the Basic Law.

The General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) puts protection against disadvantage in everyday life into practice. It is meant to prevent or remove disadvantages, for example on grounds of disability.

The most important fundamental rights

These fundamental rights are in the Basic Law:

• Freedom of expression (Article 5): Everyone may express their opinion in speech, writing and pictures. This also applies on the internet and to criticism of the government.
• Freedom of faith and conscience (Article 4): Everyone may believe whatever they wish and freely practise their religion.
• Equality before the law (Article 3): The state may not disadvantage anyone without an objective reason. This also applies in the case of a disability.
• Freedom of occupation (Article 12): Germans may freely choose their occupation. Forced labour is forbidden.
• Freedom of movement (Article 11): Germans may freely choose where to live within Germany.
• Right of asylum (Article 16a): Persons persecuted on political grounds enjoy the right of asylum. This fundamental right concerns people from other states who seek protection in Germany.

Freedom of assembly (Article 8) and the right of petition (Article 17) are also among the fundamental rights. Taking the law into your own hands, by contrast, is forbidden: anyone who wants to enforce a right uses the courts.

The limits of freedom

Fundamental rights are not unlimited. General laws, the protection of young people and personal honour can restrict freedom of expression. A publicly spread claim that cannot be proven true and that degrades a person can be punishable as defamation. Criticism of the government, by contrast, is allowed. The limit lies with false statements of fact and with the degrading of individual persons.

Persons in detention may not be subjected to mental or physical ill-treatment (Article 104). The death penalty has been abolished (Article 102).

Religion and state

There is no state church in Germany. State and religious communities are separate from one another. Religious communities organise and manage their own affairs, within the framework of the general laws. The state therefore does not favour any religion. It does not have a religion of its own either. Freedom of religion applies equally to all religions.

SourcesGrundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland↗Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland↗Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland↗Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland↗Bundesministerium der Justiz: § 1 AGG – Ziel des Gesetzes↗