Financial Problems in Connection with German Unity : Germany

When the wall dividing Germany was opened in November 1989, the overall public debt stood at DM 925 billion. By the end of the year 1992, the public debt had increased to DM1.331 trillion. This in itself indicates the magnitude of the financial problems relating to reunification.

The requisite investment in German unity is high. In 1995 public spending and social insurance expenditure for the new states exceeded DM 140 billion after deduction of the latter’s structural and administrative revenue. By the end of 1996, gross financial transfers from western to eastern Germany had totaled nearly DM 1.0 trillion since 1 990.

There are in addition united Germany’s considerable international liabilities, for example its support for the process of democratic reform and consolidation in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe as well as in the newly independent republics of the former Soviet Union.

Data Protection : Germany

The advance of automated data processing (ADP) in almost every area of life in the modern industrial society has created new problems for the judicial system. Today computers are used to maintain bank accounts, to book seats on aircraft, to issue tax notices or to collate crime data at police headquarters. ADP has become indispensable in nearly all fields of administration and makes it possible to store huge quantities of data in such a manner that they can be retrieved at any time via global networks as well.

Modern communications technologies have greatly eased the workload of many companies and public authorities and are in the process of transforming our society into a global information society. Modern data technologies harbor risks as well, however. Stored data can be put to improper use and fall into the hands of unauthorized persons. Anyone with sufficient quantities of data has access to information on a person’s private life, which must remain inviolable. In 1977 federal and state legislation was introduced in Germany to safeguard the community against this danger. The laws specify how public authorities and private bodies (business firms, for example) must handle personal data. In 1990 the Federal Data Protection Act was updated.

Court structure and the legal profession : Germany

The Federal Republic’s courts are largely specialized and provide full legal protection. They fall into five categories:

>The “ordinary courts” are responsible for criminal matters, civil matters (such as matrimonial or family proceedings as well as disputes arising under private law such as sale or lease agreements) and non-contentious legal proceedings, which include conveyancing, probate and guardianship matters. There are four levels: the local court (Amtsgericht), the regional court (Landgericht), the higher regional court (Oberlandes-gericht) and the Federal Court of Justice (Bundes-gerichtshof). In criminal cases, depending on their nature, each of the first three courts can have jurisdiction, whereas in civil proceedings it will be either the local court or the regional court. One or two other courts may be appealed to on points of fact or law.

}> The labor courts (three levels: local, higher - i.e. state - and federal) handle disputes arising from employ-ment contracts and between management and labor, as well as matters covered by the Works Constitution Act. The labor courts decide, for instance, whether an employee has been fairly or unfairly dismissed.

Social Justice : Germany

The Basic Law prescribes the development of the social-state order, hence much greater consideration is now given to the people’s social needs than in former times. In the years since the creation of the Federal Republic, a whole range of special labor and social legislation has been enacted to provide the citizen with various financial benefits in the event of sickness, accident, invalidity and unemployment, as well as after retirement.

Labor law is a good example of how the social-state principle has been put into effect. Originally, these matters were only briefly dealt with under the heading of “service contracts” in the Civil Code. Today, labor legislation embraces an abundance of laws and collective agreements but is also largely based on case law. It includes in particular the Collective Wage Agreements Act, the Protection against Dismissal Act, the Act on the Constitution of Business and Industrial Enterprises (Works Constitution Act), as well as the various laws on codetermination and the Labor Courts Act.

The citizen and public administration : Germany

After an evolutionary period of more than 100 years, the Basic Law set the seal on a comprehensive system of legal protection against the actions of public authorities. It enabled the citizen to challenge any measure that affected him on the ground that it violated his rights. This applies to any administrative act, be it a tax assessment notice or a decision whether or not to promote a school pupil to the next grade, be it the withdrawal of a driving license or the refusal of a building permit. Administrative courts were unknown in the GDR. Now administration in the new federal states, too, is subject to overall control by the courts.

The legal protection afforded by the courts with subject matter jurisdiction is complemented by a right of complaint to the Federal Constitutional Court. This “constitutional complaint” is open to every citizen and is an extra form of legal redress against any violations of basic rights by a public authority. The complainant must show that one of his basic rights has been infringed by a public act, tor instance a court decision or an administrative measure but also a law. Normally, such complaints may only be lodged after all other remedies afforded by law in the courts with subject matter jurisdiction have been exhausted.

A state based on the rule of law : Germany

German law goes back partly to Roman law and partly to numerous other legal sources in the German regions. In the 19th century, a uniform system of private law was created for the first time. It applied to the entire German Empire. The Civil Code and Commercial Code to this day preserve the liberal spirit of those times. Their underlying principle is freedom of contract.

The guarantees afforded by a democratic state are manifest above all in substantive and procedural law. Criminal law proceeds from the constitutional premise that no act is punishable unless declared so by law before it was committed. Thus judges may not make UP for gaps in penal law by applying legal provisions which cover similar cases, nor may they apply laws retroactively. Another principle embedded in the constitution is that no one may be punished more than once for the same offense. Personal liberty may not be restricted except on the basis of a formal law. Only a judge may determine whether a person’s imprisonment is justified, and only he can decide for how long. Whenever a person is detained without a judicial warrant, the matter must be brought before a judge for decision without delay.

Although the police may hold someone in temporary custody, they may not detain him any longer than the end of the day following the arrest. Everyone has a right to a court hearing - that, too, is guaranteed by the constitution and is a fundamental principle of the rule of law. The administration of justice is entrusted to judges who are independent and answerable to the law only. They may not be dismissed from office nor transferred against their will. Special tribunals are banned.
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The Legal System : Germany

The law of the Federal Republic of Germany is predominantly written law. Most of it is federal, comprising more than 4,000 acts and statutory instruments. The states, too, pass laws, mainly on such matters as the police, local government, schools and universities as well as the press, radio and television.

During the four decades when the country was divided, the legal systems of the Federal Republic and the GDR became totally different. The decision was taken in 1990 to merge the two legal systems as soon as possible after the GDR’s accession to the Federal Republic. This was also of fundamental importance for the process of economic recovery in the new federal states. Extensive adjustments were made in nearly all fields of law in order to take account of the special situation in the GDR and the existing system. The adjustments in the structure of the courts have meanwhile been completed.