Long live the Federal Constitutional Court! (Opinion)

Opinion

The traffic light coalition is suffering from a hangover. The Federal Constitutional Court has declared their financial plans unlawful. Loans of 60 billion euros, which were actually intended for the Corona emergency, cannot now simply be taken out for the climate. This is no reason to complain about the consequences for climate policy. It is a reason to sing praises to the Federal Constitutional Court. Because it ensures that the government in this country cannot do what it wants. If necessary, it teaches her how to spell the word democracy. And reminds them to abide by the Constitution.

Inmates are allowed to be abusive

The Federal Constitutional Court is there for everyone: every citizen can move to Karlsruhe if he or she feels that his or her fundamental rights have been violated. Although the prospects are slim, it still protects the weak. Not all verdicts make headlines: In Bavaria, an inmate wrote to his fiancée that the guards were assholes and that Bavaria was a “Nazi and cop state” anyway. The prison intercepted the letter. The district court, regional court and higher regional court found this to be correct. In 2021, the Federal Constitutional Court made it clear: Inmates are allowed to insult prison officials and curse the state in letters to relatives. That’s no reason to intercept letters. You can be abusive in private mail.

The SNB has been overseeing the constitution in this country since 1951. It was created as a lesson from the Nazi era. Such monitoring bodies are not a given, as examples from other countries show: In Poland, the Constitutional Court is an “extended arm of the PiS government,” as Katarina Barley, Vice President of the European Parliament, put it.

Courts are brought to government line

In Hungary, a constitutional court was created in 1990 that struck down laws passed by the Orban government, including a controversial electoral law reform. Orban then disempowered the court with the help of parliament. Since then, the courts have sided with the government.

Before the Hamas terrorist attacks in early October, people in Israel took to the streets. One of the reasons: The Supreme Court should be stripped of its power. The judges had become too rebellious for the Netanyahu government. They should be classified.

No rush through the “Heating Act”

Unthinkable in this country: In July, the Second Senate instructed the traffic light coalition not to rush the so-called “heating law” through parliament. The traffic light government wanted to complete the second and third reading of the law within one week of sitting. The CDU member of the Bundestag Thomas Heilmann felt that he had been ignored, moved to Karlsruhe and was proven right.

In 2021, the Federal Constitutional Court made it clear to the government that the complaints of some environmental activists against half-hearted climate policy were justified. The 1.5 degree limit of the Paris Climate Agreement is constitutionally binding.

When it came to euthanasia, the people of Karlsruhe corrected the criminal code. “The commercial promotion of suicide” is – contrary to what is stated in paragraph 217 – not punishable. People have the right to die independently. Good news for terminally ill people who want to end their lives. And clubs that help them.

No more crucifixes in schools

Many decisions have been forgotten. In 1995, the Federal Constitutional Court ensured that crucifixes had to be taken down in Bavarian schools. The Federal Constitutional Court has also ensured that one can quote Tucholsky (“Soldiers are murderers”) in this country. Of course you can argue about the quote, but it is covered by freedom of expression. In 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court abolished the unequal treatment of homosexual couples in spousal splitting.

In my opinion, the German Supreme Court could have hit the table during the Corona crisis. The judges criticized the school closings sparingly, but otherwise considered the restrictions on civil liberties during the pandemic to be constitutional. This rightly brought them criticism. But otherwise the men and women in their red robes do a good job. And an important one.

All sorts of demonstrations have been registered in Germany these days. “No red carpet for Erdogan,” demand demonstrators in Berlin. Young people are taking to the streets against the “education crisis”. And there are even protests against “racist police violence in Greece”. Maybe people should take to the streets with banners that say: “Long live the Federal Constitutional Court.”