Law on temporary exemption from German jurisdiction

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The law on temporary exemption from German jurisdiction of July 29, 1966 was a German federal law which enabled the federal government to exempt persons who had their regular residence outside the scope of the Basic Law from German jurisdiction at short notice. The law should allow visits by representatives of the GDR regime . The occasion was a planned exchange of speakers between the SPD and SED .

background

Ostpolitik began to slowly open up in the mid-1960s . A global process of awareness of the problems of nuclear policy and the nuclear stalemate that had already been achieved in these years began among the superpowers . Since 1962, this in turn led to a continuation of a cautious policy of establishing contact with the Eastern European countries of Romania , Bulgaria , Hungary and Poland , in particular through the establishment of German trade missions .

Possible direct contacts with representatives of the GDR in the Federal Republic were made difficult by the legal situation. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany regarded the GDR as part of Germany in terms of the right to sole representation . The East Germans were so from a West German legal perspective German. Correspondingly, criminal prosecution of crimes committed in the GDR by GDR citizens was possible by West German law enforcement authorities. The central registration office of the state justice administrations has been documenting state crimes in the GDR and the perpetrators since 1961. Therefore, every high-ranking GDR functionary who visited the Federal Republic of Germany had to expect to be arrested and prosecuted. Accordingly, official visits by GDR representatives to the Federal Republic were virtually impossible.

The legislative process

On June 14, 1966, the parliamentary groups of the CDU / CSU, SPD and FDP introduced the law on temporary exemption from German jurisdiction in the German Bundestag. It was largely drawn up by MPs Gerhard Jahn (SPD) and Ernst Benda (CDU). On June 22, 1966 the draft was unanimously recommended for adoption by the Legal Affairs Committee of the Bundestag.

On June 23, 1966, Justice Minister Richard Jaeger declared before the German Bundestag that the Federal Government supported the draft law, but only wanted to use it for particularly important projects.

The Bundestag passed the law on June 23, 1966; it came into force on July 30, 1966.

content

The Federal Government was authorized to exempt persons who have their regular residence outside the scope of the Basic Law from German jurisdiction at short notice. This exemption had to be limited in time, the limitation should not exceed one week. This exemption meant that courts and state authorities would not issue any decisions, orders or other measures against the exempted persons during this period. In the GDR, the law was heavily criticized and referred to as the "handcuff law".

Repeal

The law was repealed on May 15, 1970. This repeal was a demand made by the GDR before the summit in Kassel on May 21, 1970, since the law was based on the Federal Republic's claim to sole representation. The law had also become materially devoid of purpose, since the Eighth Criminal Law Amendment Act of May 25, 1968 in Section 153b of the Criminal Code had created the possibility for the public prosecutor's offices to cease investigations and withdraw the lawsuits if the Federal Republic was threatened with serious disadvantages. Since the public prosecutor's offices are bound by instructions, the government had the opportunity to prevent GDR officials from being prosecuted.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wichard Woyke : Concise dictionary of international politics . License issue for the Federal Agency for Civic Education . 5th, updated and revised. Ed., Opladen 1993, ISBN 3-8252-0702-1 .
  2. ↑ Written report of the legal committee (12th committee) on the draft of a law on the exemption from German jurisdiction submitted by the parliamentary groups of the CDU / CSU, SPD, FDP - printed matter V / 690 -
  3. ^ Minutes of the 32nd cabinet meeting on June 22, 1966
  4. ↑ Der Spiegel of August 29, 1966. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  5. ↑ Neues Deutschland from August 24, 1966. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  6. ^ Arnulf Baring : Change of power. The Brandt-Scheel era. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-421-06095-9 , pp. 289ff.
  7. ^ Minutes of the 20th cabinet meeting on March 19, 1970
  8. ^ Text of the Eighth Criminal Law Amendment Act in the Federal Gazette, p. 749