WikipediaExtracts:Grundgesetz
Extracted from Wikipedia --
The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The West German constitution was adopted in Bonn on 8 May 1949 and came into effect on 23 May after having been approved by the occupying western Allies of World War II on 12 May. It was termed "Basic Law" (Grundgesetz, pronounced [ˈɡʁʊntɡəˌzɛts] ) to indicate that it was a provisional piece of legislation pending the reunification of Germany. However, when reunification took place in 1990, the Basic Law was retained as the definitive constitution of reunified Germany. Its original territory of application (Geltungsbereich)—that is, the states that were initially included in the Federal Republic of Germany—consisted of the three Western Allies' zones of occupation, but at the insistence of the Western Allies, formally excluded West Berlin. In 1990, the Two Plus Four Agreement between the two parts of Germany and all four Allies stipulated the implementation of a number of amendments.
The German word Grundgesetz may be translated as either "Basic Law" or "Fundamental Law". The term Verfassung ("constitution") was avoided as the drafters regarded the Grundgesetz as an interim arrangement for a provisional West German state, expecting that an eventual reunified Germany would adopt a definitive constitution. Article 146 of the Basic Law stipulates that such a constitution must be "freely adopted by the German people". Nevertheless, although the amended Basic Law was approved by all four Allied Powers in 1990 (who thereby relinquished their reserved constitutional rights), it was never submitted to a popular vote, neither in 1949 nor in 1990. However, the Basic Law as passed in 1949 also contained Article 23, which provided for "other parts of Germany" to "join the area of applicability of the Basic Law": this was the provision that was used in the 1990 German reunification from a constitutional standpoint. As the overwhelming consensus thereafter was that the German question was settled, and to reaffirm the renunciation of any residual German claim to land east of Oder and Neiße, Article 23 was repealed as of the day of reunification. An unrelated article on the relationship between Germany and the European Union was instead inserted in its place two years later. As a heritage of the Lesser German solution, neither was unification with Austria aspired for.
In the preamble to the Basic Law, its adoption was declared an act of the "German people", and Article 20 states that "All state authority is derived from the people". These statements embody the constitutional principles that "Germany" is identical with the German people and that the German people act constitutionally as the sovereign of the German state. Where the Basic Law refers to the territory under the jurisdiction of this German state, it refers to it as the "federal territory" (Bundesgebiet), thus avoiding any implication of a constitutionally defined "German national territory".
The authors of the Basic Law sought to ensure that a potential dictator would never again be able to come to power in the country. Although some of the Basic Law is based on the Weimar Republic's constitution, the first article is a protection of human dignity (Menschenwürde) and human rights; they are core values protected by the Basic Law. The principles of democracy, republicanism, social responsibility, federalism and the rule of law are key components of the Basic Law (Article 20). Articles 1 and 20 are protected by what is called the eternity clause (Ewigkeitsklausel), Article 79 (3), which prohibits any amendment or removal of the principles laid down in Articles 1 and 20.
