Consistency requirement
The requirement of consistency is a result of the constitutional prohibition of arbitrariness , which is rooted in Article 3, Paragraph 1 of the Basic Law and in the rule of law , which itself has constitutional status. It requires that government action is logical, consistent and conclusive ( legal continuity ). Exceptions require an objective reason. For example, a "fundamental system change by the legislature" comes into consideration.
Any state conduct violates legal continuity, which orders that in future the opposite of a legal norm that has been in force for a long time will apply without the change of course being justified. It would not be legally understandable to suddenly criminalize behavior that is not objected to under environmental administrative law without justifying the change in direction.
The requirement of consistency is not limited to the legislature . From the cross-authority claim to legal continuity it also follows that administrative and judicial measures must not contradict each other.
The requirement of consistency is not expressly set out in the constitution or in any law. Rather, it was developed through the case law of the 2nd Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court .
Most recently, it took on importance in the judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court on December 9, 2008, which declared the statutory change in the “ commuter flat rate ” to be unconstitutional. In connection with the compatibility of Section 9 (2 ) EStG (in the version of the Tax Amendment Act 2007) with the Basic Law, the Federal Constitutional Court checked the legality of the singular implementation of the factory gate principle in the area of the commuter flat rate, including the requirement of consistency in the application of the objective net principle .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Anna Leisner: Continuity as a constitutional principle , p. 234.
- ↑ BVerfG, judgment of December 9, 2008, Az. 2 BvL 1/07, 2 BvL 2/07, 2 BvL 1/08, 2 BvL 2/08, full text
- ^ Stefan Breinersdorfer: Prohibition of deductions and the objective net principle. New tendencies in the constitutional control of the legislature. In: German tax law. Vol. 48, H. 49, 2010, ISSN 0012-1347 , pp. 2492-2497.
