Article 55 of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany
Article 55 GG regulates the incompatibility of the office of Federal President with other offices.
Normalization
Since the Basic Law came into force on May 24, 1949, Article 55 of the Basic Law has read:
(1) The Federal President may not belong to the government or to a legislative body of the Federation or a Land.
(2) The Federal President may not exercise any other salaried office, trade or profession and neither be part of the management nor the supervisory board of a company aimed at making a profit.
meaning
The regulation is intended to increase the independence and integrity of the Federal President and is thus an expression of the separation of powers in Article 20 of the Basic Law.
If the Federal President violates the duty stipulated here, a sanction according to Article 61 of the Basic Law. According to the prevailing opinion, the violation does not automatically lead to a loss of office.
The duties of Art. 55 GG begin with the assumption of office and end with the resignation from the office of the Federal President.
Web links
- Art. 55 on dejure.org - legal text with references to case law and cross-references.
