Unanimity principle
The unanimity principle (also Unanimitätsprinzip called) guarantees that all parties in decision- same opinion must be, in terms of their decision. This means that only the " lowest common denominator " is accepted by everyone. Due to the principle of unanimity, both small and large parties or actors have the same say and the same voting weight.
The unanimity principle has the disadvantage that each individual party has a kind of veto right and can block a resolution by rejecting it. In contrast to a democratic decision with a majority , the unanimity principle can have a strong majority and still be blocked by a minority . The advantage, on the other hand, is that certain contracts would never have been concluded had the veto right not been granted in them.
In the European Union , for example , the principle of unanimity applies to cross-border tax issues and to admission tests that regulate the access of natural persons to the profession.
A historically significant example of the principle of unanimity is the principle of quod omnes tangit of the Reichstag (from the 16th century) of the old German Empire (until 1806) or its individual estates colleges , where the rule was that a decision in a Reich matter would affect all estates of the Reich concerned ( quod omnes tangit ), may only be passed with the unanimous consent of all members of the Reichstag ( from omnibus approbari debet ). In this way, the greatest possible justice was achieved in imperial resolutions, but the legislative process was also enormously slowed down, as negotiations had to be carried out until a consensus was ultimately reached.
The Allied Control Council of the victorious powers of World War II, which met in Berlin, also had to make its decisions unanimously. Therefore, differences of opinion soon led to the Council becoming incapacitated.