DEFINITION OF
FREEDOM
(Berlin)
Human rights
Article 1, paragraph 2 of the “Grundgesetz ”(GG) (constitution of the Federal Republic of
Germany):
“The German people
recognizes the inviolable and unalienable human rights as the basis of
every human society, of peace and justice in the world.”
Article 1 of the German
Constitution, is subjected to the special protection by
the so-called eternity clause in article 79, par. 3 of the GG. This
also applies to the obligation of state authority to respect human dignity (paragraph
1) and the legal binding of the basic rights (paragraph 3) for every
German citizen.
Germany has joined the
International Pact of Civil and Political rights, which is considered as a law
and is published in the German Civil Code.
Germany has also signed the UN
Human Rights Declaration which proclaims the right to social security, work
and residence. Although according to article 25, page 1 GG only the
general rules of international law are automatically part of federal legislation,
some of these rights have been made part of the constitutions of the federal
states( “Länder”) like Northrhine-Westfalia or Bavaria.
Chronology:
Middle of 6th
century BC:
The so-called “Writings of the
Priests” by Pentateuch, which were supposedly produced in Babel, mentions
the godlike image of man (Genesis 1, 27)
539 BC:
In 1971 the declaration of the
founder of the Persian empire Kyros II. from 539 BC was celebrated by the UN as
the first Charta of Human Rights in history.
1215: Magna Charta:
'Magna Carta' is document
accepted by King John of England on June 15, 1215 which contains a series of
laws establishing the rights of English barons and major landowners thereby
limiting the authority of the King. For the first time private property, tax
laws and the individual freedom became part of public legislation as civil
rights protecting the citizens against the Crown.
1525:
The “Twelve articles” are
written down in the German town of Memmingen: the first declaration of human
rights in Europe.
1542 New Laws ”Leyes Nuevas”
were passed by emperor Karl V. They were based on the proposals of Bartolomé de
las Casas declaring the freedom of the South American Natives and the general
prohibition of forced labour.
1628: The Petition of Right
(England) is a major English constitutional document, which sets out specific
liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing. The
Petition is most notable for its confirmation of the principles that taxes can
be levied only by Parliament, that martial law may not be imposed in time of
peace, and that prisoners must be able to challenge the legitimacy of their
detentions through the writ of habeas corpus.
1679: Habeas Corpus Act:
is a legal action through
which a person can seek relief from the unlawful detention of him or herself,
or of another person. It protects the individual from harming himself or being
harmed by the judicial system. The writ of habeas corpus has historically been
an important instrument for the safeguarding of individual freedom against
arbitrary state action.
1689: The British Bill of
Rights (or “An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and
Settling the Succession of the Crown”) of 1689 made illegal a range of
oppressive governmental actions in the United Kingdom.
1776: Virginia Bill of Rights
from June 12, 1776 encoded a number of fundamental rights and freedoms into
law.
1776: Declaration of
Independence of the United States is passed by the Congress of the 13 former
English colonies in North America to declare the independence from Great
Britain. Included are the “unalienable rights” to life, freedom and the pursuit
of happiness.”
1789: Déclaration des droits
de l’homme et du citoyen (declaration of human and civil rights of male
citizens) passed on August 26, 1789 by the French National Assembly as
constitutional rights.
1791: Déclaration des droits
de la femme et de la citoyenne (declaration of human and civil rights of female
citizens ) , written by Olympe des Gouges and passed by the French National
Assembly .
1791: American Bill of Rights
added on December 15th, as amendments 1-10 to the US Constitution.
1794 General State Laws for
the Prussian States: The general rights of humanity are also due to the unborn
child from the time of conception”.
1948:
Universal Declaration of Human
Rights by the UN General Assembly on Dec 10, 1948, motivated mainly by the
violations of human rights during World War II . Many states have included this
declaration in their constitutions. Since then Dec 10 is being celebrated as
the International day of Human Rights.
1966:
Two binding Human Rights
Conventions were passed on Dec 19, 1966 by the UN: The International Pact of
Civil and Political Rights and the International Pact of Economical, Social and
Cultural Rights came into effect in 1976 after they had been ratified by a
sufficient number of states.
1983: The institution of the
High Commissioner for Civil Rights was established as a result of the
Conference of Human Rights in Vienna.
Freedom of religion:
The German Constitution
safeguards the freedom of religion (art. 4):
1. The freedom of
religious belief, of conscience and one’s own religious and philosophical
beliefs are inviolable.
2. The undisturbed practice of
religion must be insured.
3. Nobody can be forced to
join the army against their conscience.
Additional regulations
concerning religious freedom can be found in the so-called “religious articles”
of the Weimar constitution (1919). They were included in the present German
constitution.
Article 7, paragraph 3 of the
present German Constitution deals with religious instruction at schools:
According to article 33, paragraph 3, every German citizen has the right to
hold a public office, independent of their religious belief.
Democracy
Germany’s path to democracy
The first German democracy was
the Weimar Republic from 1919 to 1933. It formally continued after Adolf Hitler
took over but the government was now led by a totalitarian dictator.
The foundation of the German Federal Republic after the end of World war II
established a parliamentary republic submitting the principle of democracy to
the special protection of the so-called eternity clause. The existence of
the Soviet occupied part of Germany at that time led to the foundation of the
German Democratic Republic, which also gave itself a formally liberal
constitution. However the civil rights it claimed were often not granted its
citizens.
When Germany was reunited in 1990 the German Democratic Republic stopped to exist and its federal states (“Länder”) became part of the Federal Republic of Germany.