Right to speak

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The red light signals that the microphone is switched on and the person at the microphone has the temporary right to speak

The right to speak is the granting of the right to verbal utterance by a speaker to the audience. In committees (e.g. city council, district council, state parliament) it is usually a law standardized by regulations ( rules of procedure ). In the broadest sense, the right to speak belongs to freedom of expression within a democratic system.

German Bundestag

Lectern in the Bavarian state parliament with display of the remaining speaking time above

Article 43 (2) of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany grants the members of the Bundesrat and the Federal Government as well as their agents the right to speak at any time. The rules of procedure of the constitutional bodies regulate details.

In addition, over 30 important personalities have spoken before the Bundestag:

  • In 1969, then US President Richard Nixon spoke .
  • In the 1970s there was not a single guest speaker in Parliament.
  • In 1982, in the middle of the arms-arms debate, US President Ronald Reagan spoke . Many SPD members did not applaud and showed Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt that they did not want to follow him in the armament.
  • George Bush Sr. and Mikhail Gorbachev appeared together in front of the Bundestag on November 9, 1999 on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall ,
  • In 2001 Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the Bundestag.
  • On May 23, 2002, George W. Bush spoke .
  • In 1996 Ezer Weizmann spoke (as the first Israeli President).
  • In 1996, the then President of South Africa, human rights activist Nelson Mandela , spoke .
  • In 2011 Pope Benedict XVI spoke . Bundestag President Norbert Lammert had invited him; the group chairmen had agreed.

Lectures

Adhering to the given speaking time is a central problem at meetings and congresses. Indulgent chairmen and undisciplined speakers can blow the program. Discussions and subsequent presentations are prevented. Even if you calculate the lecture time, (charming) extremes and (important) picture comments can lead to significant overdrafts - for both very bad and very good speakers. At major US congresses, you can set the clock according to the length of the lecture. At many German medical congresses, inconsiderate speakers are not scolded or even turned off for alleged collegiality.

"I started my lecture a quarter to eleven and finished on time at 11.30 after 20 minutes."

- Volker Schumpelick

Others

Speakers' Corner in London

Everyone has general "right to speak" at Speakers' Corner in London's Hyde Park .

See also

literature

  • Veris-Pascal Heintz, The Right to Speak for Members of the German Bundestag. Regarding the limits to the restriction of freedom of speech , Journal for Legal Studies (ZJS) 03/2013, 233 (PDF file) [3] (PDF; 83 kB)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rheinische Post: [1]
  2. ↑ bundestag.de: Archived copy ( memento of October 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ bundestag.de: [2]