The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany. Guard of the rules of the constitutional game, or state super-authority?

Bringing into prominence the role of the Constitutional Court in the German political system after 1949 is neither new, nor original. Already in the interwar period Hans Kelsen pointed out its significance, claiming that the political meaning of the idea of federalism found its completion precisely with the establishment of the constitutional jurisdiction. Arguments supporting the inclusion of the Federal Constitutional Court into the central governmental authorities can be found in essentially every elaboration on the subject. A deeper analysis, however, shows that including it among the central governmental authorities is not fully right. More so, it is unduly. The central authorities may only be those which act directly on the basis of the Basic Law. Therefore, unlike the chief authorities such as Bundestag, Bundesrat, the President of the Republic, and the federal government, the Tribunal does not autonomically delineate its own functioning. It does so on the basis of the ordinary law. This warrants the conclusion that this, frequently mentioned in the subject literature, duality of the Tribunal as a court and as a chief governmental authority, is, in the light of the above, impossible to reconcile.

Bundestag and Bundesrat stance towards European integration in the light  of the „Lisbon” judgement of the Federal Constitutional Court

It is difficult not to voice the assessment, that the „Lisbon” judgement of the Federal Constitutional Court carries all features not of the legislative decisions, but the political ones. This statement may be justified with a fact, that Tribunal’s objections are directed ultimately not towards lack of proper regulations relating to the Treaty, but against the Lisbon Treaty itself. But because its ratification should not have been stopped, the surrounding legislation has been used as an excuse to express reservations against the Lisbon Treaty. This means – from the formal point of view – both Treaty and Act Approving the Treaty are flawless. At the same time, it is difficult to forget, that the same Court, indirectly with this judgement contravened one of the fundamental of the constitutional rules, that is ban to formulate these kind of opinion which acceptance would lead to the (in this case) change of the Treaty or at least to express objection(s) according to the international law.

The Freedom of Conscience and Religion in Light of the Rulings of the German Federal Constitutional Court – Selected Issues

This article is an attempt on synthetic analysis of selected issues concerning liberty of conscience and religion in Germany, specifically, problems resulting from the jurisdiction of Federal Constitutional Court of Germany. The introduction is dedicated to the short description of constitutional regulations of freedom of conscience and religion in Germany. What follows, are the most important principles adopted by the Court in the initial stage of its activity. The next part of the text presents recent trends in the jurisdiction. The article gives accounts of the Court’s adjudications upon cases concerning wearing hijabs in public schools, offering an animal sacrifices, the way in which public institutions inform the society of religious unions’ activities, the obligation imposed on churches to observe the constitutional laws and the protection of Sunday as a weekly day of rest. In conclusions some differences between standpoints of German and Polish Constitutional Courts were revealed.

Ultra vires Rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union and their Assessment in the Jurisprudence of the German Federal Constitutional Court. Aside from the Judgment of May 5, 2020

On May 5, 2020, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) ruled on the legality of the public sector asset purchase program established by the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). What is particularly important, this issue was the subject of a preliminary ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), issued following an inquiry from a German court. The FCC’s decision is of particular importance in the context of plans to launch a European Reconstruction Fund to combat the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The German court questioned the treaty bases of the decisions of the European Central Bank (ECB) on the basis of which the bonds were issued. What is particularly important, the German court emphasized not only the right, but even the obligation to examine by the constitutional courts of the EU Member States whether the activity of European institutions goes beyond the powers conferred on them in the treaties (ultra vires). The content of this decision and its extensive justification will certainly have a great impact on the functioning of the European Union.

Protection of the future generations in the context of the climate neutrality goals in the jurisprudence of the Federal Constitutional Court in Germany

In this paper the impact of the current legal provisions in Germany, dedicated to achieving the goal of climate neutrality till 2050, on the human rights and freedoms of next generations will be investigated. An assumption for this reaserch task is a judgement of the Federal Constitutional Tribunal from 24 March 2021, related to the obligaton for the public authorities to provide the inter-generational justice in the framework of environmental policy. The aim of this paper is also to examine if the climate neutrality can receive a status of new, constitutional value in the German legal order.