Mail order
The postal order is understood to mean the entirety of the legal regulations that must be observed for all state post offices. The legal basis of the mail order forms the Postal Act .
Historical development in Germany
The various old German states issued postal regulations at different times when the establishment of state posts or the change in their administrative form required it.
The development of modern post in Germany started in Prussia . A first significant law on the Prussian postal system appeared in on August 10, 1712 under the title "New Post Regulations " (along with the revised regulations of March 19, 1710 and the new Extra-Post regulations). These postal regulations were renewed and expanded on November 26, 1782. In the Prussian “Law on Postal Services of June 5, 1852” , Section 50 reads: “The postal administration is authorized to issue these provisions as part of the agreement between the sender or the traveler through a regulation to be issued by it and made public through official gazettes on the one hand and the postal administration on the other hand, ... ”On July 31, 1852, the“ Regulations for the Law on Postal Services ”appeared, with changes to May 27, 1856 and December 21, 1860.
The North German Federal Post Office issued a valid basis of its entire territory and based on the Prussian postal order new postal order on 11 December 1867th The postal regulations of the Reichspost are based on this , initially without Bavaria and Württemberg, which were passed with the Reich Law of October 28, 1871. Their respectively valid form was announced by changes that were published in the Reichsgesetzblatt (RGBl.).
In the "Constitution of the German Empire" , the emperor is granted the right to issue postal regulations: "Section 50: The emperor is entitled to issue regulatory determinations and general administrative orders, ...".
In the “Law on the Postal System of the German Reich” (again in Section 50) this right is already delegated and also specified: “Section 50: By means of regulations to be issued by the Reich Chancellor, which are to be published in the sheets intended for the publication of official notices . Are the other regulations to be observed when using the post office. These regulations are part of the contract between the postal service and the sender. The regulations must contain:
- the conditions for the acceptance of all items delivered by post for the purpose of transport,
- the maximum weight of letters and parcels,
- the conditions of the sender's recovery and the rules on the handling of items that cannot be ordered,
- the provisions relating to disposals of bad shipments,
- the designation of the items that are not permitted for carriage by post,
- The fees for postal orders, advance mailings and other money transfers by the post office, for mailings of printed matter, product samples and samples, correspondence cards, recommended mailings, for delivery of mailings with handling slip, for loose letters for mailings and transfer of newspapers;
- Orders on the type of order for the items transported by the post and the fees to be charged for this, in particular the fees for ordering express mail, city letters and parcels, valuables, and also the regulations on Estafette transport; ... "
Changes to the law were made on December 18, 1874, March 8, 1879, June 11, 1892, March 20, 1900 and July 28, 1917.
A new postal order followed on December 22nd, 1921. In the period of inflation z. B. the liability of the Post changed temporarily. The law on the telegraph system of the German Reich of April 6, 1892 was to adapt to the progress of technology. The Reich constitution of August 11, 1919 created the legal basis for the unity of the German post and telegraph system. In the implementation, the previously independent post and telegraph administration of Bavaria and Württemberg were transferred to the Reich on April 1, 1920 through state treaties that the Reich concluded with these countries. In the time of rapid devaluation, the idea was obvious to put the Reichspost, which required considerable subsidies from the Reich treasury, on its own two feet. The Reich Treasury was already in a very desolate state due to its reparation obligations and the consequences of inflation. The Reichspost, like the Reichsbahn, had to be disconnected from the direct connection with the general Reich budget in November 1923 and was left to its own devices. Since the " Reich Law on the Proclamation of Statutory Orders of October 13, 1923 " (RGBl. I, p. 959), the Official Journal of the Post has been the organ for the proclamation of the postal order. Nevertheless, the most important ordinances continued to be promulgated in the Reichsgesetzblatt.
Until April 1, 1924, the Postal Act formed the basis of postal law. The "Reichspostfinanzgesetz (RPFG) of March 18, 1924" empowers the administrative board of the Deutsche Reichspost to pass resolutions on the principles for the use of transport facilities and for the assessment of fees. "According to § 2, the Reichspostminister enacts the ordinances on the conditions and fees for the use of the transport facilities in accordance with the decisions of the administrative council made under § 6 of this law." The Reichspostfinanzgesetz has not changed the status of the Deutsche Reichspost as a direct Reich administration. All this made a complete revision of the postal regulations necessary.
On January 30, 1929, a new postal order was published, in which outdated designations were replaced by contemporary ones in various places and other changes and changes were made that affect the version.
The Reich Postal Finance Act is repealed with effect from April 1, 1934 by the “Law for the Simplification and Cheap Administration of the Administration of February 27, 1934” (RGBl. I p. 130). The so-called Simplification Act transferred the ordinance law, i.e. the publication of the postal regulations, to the Reich Ministry of Post. "§ 4: The ordinances on the conditions and the fees for the use of the transport facilities of the Deutsche Reichspost are issued by the Reichspostminister." An advisory board was formed for advisory participation, which only had to be heard on all fundamental and particularly important questions.
This postal order overcame the war and was still valid in both East and West.
In the period that followed, the GDR's Deutsche Post had four postal regulations of its own (1959, 1966, 1977), but they did not differ very much. The fourth "Post Order on the Postal Service" appeared on February 28, 1986, followed by the "Law on Postal Service" of August 3, 1989. The transition of the GDR's Deutsche Post to the Bundespost was made on July 1, 1990 by "Order on the position, task and working method of the general directorates as well as Postbank and corporate financing of the state enterprise Deutsche Post der GDR. "and on September 29, 1990 by the" announcement about the entry into force of the contract between the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany on the establishment of the unity of Germany ". - Unification Agreement - completed.
Through the “Law on the Proclamation of Statutory Orders of January 30, 1950” (Federal Law Gazette, p. 25, entered into force on February 15, 1950) the Federal Law Gazette (Federal Law Gazette) or the Federal Gazette is the proclamation organ again. In the Federal Gazette, small changes to the postal regulations or smaller fee changes are announced. A reference to this is then necessary in the Federal Law Gazette. The provisions of the postal regulations themselves - the conditions of use - represent substantive legal norms that are binding for the postal customer and the judge. The implementing provisions (AB) of the postal regulations, however, are only administrative orders that are not binding.
On May 16, 1964, the "Postal Regulations with Implementation Regulations, Appendices and Annexes" appeared for the German Federal Post Office . This was valid - with changes - until July 1, 1991, when " General Terms and Conditions " took its place. They summarized the provisions of the postal regulations with the " General Service Instructions " (ADA). On January 1, 1995, the Deutsche Bundespost became Deutsche Post AG , which, as a private company, also operates according to “General Terms and Conditions”.
Sources and Notes
- ↑ Official Gazette 1964/73 Order 275/1964
Web links
literature
- Regarding the postal order in the GDR:
- Steven, Werner: GDR Postbuch 1947 - 1989 , self-published, Braunschweig
- Steven, Werner: GDR The end of a mail arrangement 1989 - 1991 , Verlag Neues Handbuch, Soest.
- Peter Fischer: Postal regulations. In: Deutsche Briefmarken-Zeitung issue No. 6/2013 of March 8, p. 24