Search

This paper analyses the legal controversy aroused in the Federal Republic of Germany around the prohibition of commercial encouragement of suicide. In its first section, the legal framework for end-of-life decisions is briefly explained. To this end, the work emphasises the contentious criminal act in force in the country since 2015 and reflects the state of the art according to the main scientific literature in this regard. The second part analyses the recent ruling of the German Federal Constitutional Court that declares unconstitutional the above-mentioned prohibition of commercial encouragement of suicide. In particular, this section looks into the construction of a right to a self-determined death carried out by the final arbiter of the German Fundamental Law. Thirdly and lastly, the paper draws two conclusions from the prior analysis. The first one is of functional nature and, since the German Federal Constitutional Court did not exclude such a possibility, refers to the feasibility of alternative concepts of legislation. The second corollary has a dogmatic nature and consists of assessing the significant omission of the right to life in the argumentation of the German highest court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the German Federal Constitutional Court case-law about the European integration process. Both concepts of sovereignty and democracy, base of its reasoning, have been constructed as related to a national legal system. Therefore, the nature, functions and limits of the EU has been determined by the BVerfG in relation to state categories. This paper tries to show how since Lisbon's ruling (2009), the bases for a definition of sovereignty and democracy from the point of view of the common constitutional tradition of Member States may have been established. That's to say, what modern Schools for Scientific Thought call iuspublicum europaeum. The German Federal Constitutional Court makes this methodological transformation returning to the material concept of democracy established during the 50's and 60's. If it was then used in order to construct a militant democracy ad intra against the enemies of democracy, it may be now used to the militant defense ad extra of democracy. The respect for German political identity imposed by Lisbon's ruling supports this idea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the more important constitutional questions discussed and the main constitutional and political events in Germany from July 2008 to December 2009. The author places particular emphasis on the different elections that have taken place in Germany as well as on the reform of federalism concerning the restrictions to get into new debts. Finally this article includes the exam of the Constitutional Court Decisions issued in that period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]