German liberal democratic basic order

21 October 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Editorial, EU blog post series, European Union Reading Time:  6 minutes

Reichstag in Berlin © Cezary Piwowarski/cc-by-sa-3.0

Reichstag in Berlin © Cezary Piwowarski/cc-by-sa-3.0

The liberal democratic basic order (German: freiheitliche demokratische Grundordnung (FDGO)) is a fundamental term in German constitutional law. It determines the unalienable, invariable core structure of the German commonwealth. As such, it is the core substance of the German constitution. Building upon more general definitions of liberal democracy, the term has a specific legal meaning in Germany and is part of the German (originally West German) system of a Streitbare Demokratie (“fortified democracy”) that bans attempts to dismantle the liberal democratic basic order by what German authorities refer to as “enemies of the Constitution” or “extremists”.   read more…

Federal Constitutional Court

1 March 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, House of the Month Reading Time:  12 minutes

© Dr. Ronald Kunze/cc-by-3.0

© Dr. Ronald Kunze/cc-by-3.0

The Federal Constitutional Court (German: Bundesverfassungsgericht; abbreviated: BVerfG) is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law (Grundgesetz) of Germany. Since its inception with the beginning of the post-WW2 republic, the court has been located in the city of Karlsruhe—intentionally distanced from the other federal institutions in Berlin (earlier in Bonn) and other cities. The main task of the court is judicial review, and it may declare legislation unconstitutional, thus rendering them ineffective. In this respect, it is similar to other supreme courts with judicial review powers, yet the court possesses a number of additional powers, and is regarded as among the most interventionist and powerful national courts in the world. Unlike other supreme courts, the constitutional court is not an integral stage of the judicial or appeals process (aside from cases concerning constitutional or public international law), and does not serve as a regular appellate court from lower courts or the Federal Supreme Courts on any violation of federal laws.   read more…

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