Postcard process
The postcard procedure was the unofficial name for a procedure that was temporarily used in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1977 for the recognition of conscientious objection .
Decision of the procedure
On July 13, 1977, under the social - liberal government of Helmut Schmidt , the Bundestag passed an amendment to the Conscription Act and the Civil Service Act , which came into force on August 1, 1977. In addition to the extension of civil service to 18 months, it included a new procedure for recognizing conscientious objection. Previously, conscripts who wanted to refuse military service for reasons of faith or conscience had to stand in front of a committee to answer questions about their motives. The new law now abolished any such test. It was enough to declare the refusal based on the Basic Law, without giving reasons for it. Since a postcard was theoretically sufficient for this , one spoke of the "postcard procedure".
Determination of unconstitutionality
The procedure was examined by the Federal Constitutional Court at the request of large parts of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group as well as the federal states of Baden-Württemberg , Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate (all at that time under a CDU or CSU sole government) . On December 7, 1977, this suspended the applicable regulation from December 16, 1977 by means of an interim injunction . The final decision of April 13, 1978 then found the trial to be unconstitutional. It justified this with the fact that there is no free choice between civil and military service in the Basic Law . Community service can only be performed by those who exercise their fundamental right guaranteed in Article 4, Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law.
Anyone who refused to do military service after the postcard procedure between August 1, 1977 and December 15, 1977 and was not recognized by the Federal Office for Civilian Service by December 15, had to complete the 18 months stipulated by law. The regulation with the committees continued to apply to all other motions. In 1983, a procedure with a written justification was introduced that has essentially been in place to this day - even after the suspension of compulsory military service.
