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The first articles of the german constitution are an exercise in weasel-wording: "Human dignity", "moral law", "may only be restricted by a law"...

by Kristine1975 11y ago

germanier 11y ago
The German constitution needs to be interpreted as a document of its time. It places "human dignity" (which is purposefully left open to a potentially changing interpretation) above all other rights which are derived from it. The constitutional court interprets all basic rights as broad, and all restrictions which are allowed need be as small as possible while still keeping the intent of the constitution. Interpreting the constitution is not an easy task and takes a lot of practice.
- oldmanjay 11y ago
  Cognitive dissonance always gets better with practice, regarding law and any other religion
- Kristine1975 11y ago
  >It places "human dignity" (which is purposefully left open to a potentially changing interpretation) above all other rights which are derived from it. Which is why marital rape was legal until 1997 /s >The constitutional court interprets all basic rights as broad, and all restrictions which are allowed need be as small as possible while still keeping the intent of the constitution. Not really. Otherwise marijuana would be legal, the paragraph making incest illegal would have been abolished in 2008, the paragraph criminalizing gay sex would never have existed etc. P.S: What's with the seemingly random "You're submitting too fast. Please slow down. Thanks" message?
  - germanier 11y ago
    I don't want to comment on the specific examples. Most of the cited laws don't fit my personal view of justice. Obviously there have been and still are some interpretations which are outlandish. But this is what you get as soon as you start dealing with humans. Overall, I firmly believe that the constitution even with its flaws is a powerful document protecting the people.
Xylakant 11y ago
Where is the weasel wording? That fundamental rights may be restricted by laws, for example the right of freedom may be restricted for people convicted of a crime? If those weasel words were not in those articles, there'd be no prison sentence in germany, that's hardly useful.

The first articles of the german constitution are an exercise in weasel-wording: "Human dignity", "moral law", "may only be restricted by a law"...

germanier 11y ago

The German constitution needs to be interpreted as a document of its time. It places "human dignity" (which is purposefully left open to a potentially changing interpretation) above all other rights which are derived from it. The constitutional court interprets all basic rights as broad, and all restrictions which are allowed need be as small as possible while still keeping the intent of the constitution. Interpreting the constitution is not an easy task and takes a lot of practice.

oldmanjay 11y ago
Cognitive dissonance always gets better with practice, regarding law and any other religion
Kristine1975 11y ago
>It places "human dignity" (which is purposefully left open to a potentially changing interpretation) above all other rights which are derived from it. Which is why marital rape was legal until 1997 /s >The constitutional court interprets all basic rights as broad, and all restrictions which are allowed need be as small as possible while still keeping the intent of the constitution. Not really. Otherwise marijuana would be legal, the paragraph making incest illegal would have been abolished in 2008, the paragraph criminalizing gay sex would never have existed etc. P.S: What's with the seemingly random "You're submitting too fast. Please slow down. Thanks" message?
- germanier 11y ago
  I don't want to comment on the specific examples. Most of the cited laws don't fit my personal view of justice. Obviously there have been and still are some interpretations which are outlandish. But this is what you get as soon as you start dealing with humans. Overall, I firmly believe that the constitution even with its flaws is a powerful document protecting the people.

Xylakant 11y ago

Where is the weasel wording? That fundamental rights may be restricted by laws, for example the right of freedom may be restricted for people convicted of a crime? If those weasel words were not in those articles, there'd be no prison sentence in germany, that's hardly useful.