Constitution of the State of Schleswig-Holstein

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Constitution of Schleswig-Holstein in the version dated December 2, 2014 in German and Low German
Basic data
Title: Constitution of the State of Schleswig-Holstein
Short title: Schleswig-Holstein constitution (not official)
Previous title: State statutes for Schleswig-Holstein
Abbreviation: Author SH, SHVerf
Type: State Law
Scope: Schleswig-Holstein
Legal matter: Constitutional law
References : GS Schl.-H. II, equation no. 100-1
Original version from: December 13, 1949
( GVOBl. Schl.-H. 1950 p. 3)
Entry into force on: January 12, 1950
New announcement from: 2nd December 2014
Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

The constitution of the State of Schleswig-Holstein of December 13, 1949 came into force on January 12, 1950 under the title of State Statute for Schleswig-Holstein . A constitutional and parliamentary reform also led to a title change on June 13, 1990. The current announcement of the constitution of the state of Schleswig-Holstein dates from December 2, 2014.

history

prehistory

In the first half of the 19th century, the German lawyer and official in Danish service Uwe Jens Lornsen had already done preliminary work with his writings on the constitutional situation of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, which are connected to the Danish crown . Schleswig was then a fiefdom of Denmark , Holstein a member state of the German Confederation - both territories were ruled by the Danish king as a duke in personal union. Lornsen, however, demanded more autonomy for Schleswig-Holstein within the Danish politics, which was still very much characterized by absolutism .

At the beginning of the Schleswig-Holstein survey on July 24, 1848, a commission of the Provisional Government had already presented a draft of a "Basic State Law for the Duchies of Schleswig = Holstein". Article 3 of the draft stipulated: "The duchies of Schleswig = Holstein are part of the German State Association" . In 1854 the Danish government presented a constitution for Schleswig and Holstein.

Draft of a constitutional state law for Schleswig-Holstein from 1848

After the Second World War , Schleswig-Holstein was ruled by the British military government. In 1946 it issued a provisional state statute as a provisional constitution. The appointed state parliament approved this law on June 12, 1946. Until the adoption of the constitution of 1949, this provisional constitution formed the legal framework in Schleswig-Holstein.

Emergence

In 1949, the first elected Parliament of the same name adopted from the Prussian province emerged state of Schleswig-Holstein , a state statute . The term “statute” instead of “ constitution ” was chosen because this, like the Basic Law of the Federal Republic, should only be valid until divided Germany was reunited in one state.

The deliberations on the constitution took place in a poisonous atmosphere. After the state elections in Schleswig-Holstein in 1947 , the SPD had an absolute majority of MPs thanks to the right to vote, despite a share of the vote of only 41.1%. In the local elections on October 24, 1948 and the 1949 Bundestag election , the CDU was even stronger than the SPD. Because of this constellation, the SPD rejected the opposition's demand for a constituent assembly to be called and stipulated that the state parliament should adopt the state statutes. The opposition parties' opposition to the constitutional rule that the constitution should be adopted with an absolute majority, but future amendments to the constitution would require a 2/3 majority, was even more violent.

With these regulations the SPD intended to permanently secure the heavily controversial key points of its policy, the six-year elementary school and the land reform .

After the Interior Minister Wilhelm Käber presented the draft of the state statutes on October 24, 1949, which contained these regulations, the MP Hermann von Mangoldt demanded for the CDU Schleswig-Holstein that the CDU not participate in the constitutional deliberations on this basis and the result would appeal to the Federal Constitutional Court . The SSW also expressed sharp criticism of the procedure and the draft.

The SPD was not ready to comply with the opposition's wishes. The consultations therefore only took place with the MPs of the SPD and those of the SSW. The CDU only sent Hans-Jürgen Klinker and Emmy Lüthje as observers.

Parliamentary President Hermann Lüdemann (SPD) tried to find a compromise by proposing to delete the paragraph about the six-year elementary school. His group rejected this proposal, arguing that other future majorities could then abolish this rule.

Due to this constellation, the discussion about the template resulted in only a few changes. Compared to the draft, the length of the legislative period was extended from 3 to 4 years (although this rule should only apply from the next election) and a constructive vote of no confidence was introduced. The regulations on land reform (Art. 8) and primary schools remained in the constitution. The constitution was adopted on December 13, 1949 with the votes of the 42 SPD MPs against the votes of the two CDU observers and the SSW. Only the two SSW MPs Berthold Bahnsen and Victor Graf von Reventlow-Criminil abstained.

Corrections 1950

The efforts of the SPD to want to protect the core points of its policy through the constitution against democratic opinion-forming were unsuccessful. In the state elections in Schleswig-Holstein in 1950 , she lost 16.3% of the votes and had to go into the opposition. On November 20, 1950, the constitutional provisions on the six-year primary school and land reform in the state statutes were deleted.

New version 1990

The Kiel affair about the then Prime Minister Uwe Barschel led in 1990 to a comprehensive constitutional and parliamentary reform, which resulted in the law amending the state statutes for Schleswig-Holstein of June 13, 1990 ( GVOBl. Schl.-H. p. 391).

Reform 2014

In April 2013, all parliamentary groups decided to set up a special committee on “constitutional reform” with the aim of u. a. to check and submit the following:

The deliberations of the special committee also dealt with suggestions from the population and associations, some of which were also taken into account. The resolution in the state parliament took place on October 8, 2014. 61 of the 66 MPs present voted in favor of the intergroup motion to amend the constitution. The new constitution lowers the quorums for referendums. The protection of digital privacy and the further development of basic digital services, like the school system of the Danish minority, have constitutional status. The inclusion of pupils with disabilities and an administration close to the people are also state tasks (the constitution speaks of "state goals"). The state parliament is given more rights and can in future force the government to file constitutional complaints with the Federal Constitutional Court. There was no constitution-changing majority in the Landtag for anchoring a reference to God. Two applications to subsequently include a reference to God in the constitution were also rejected in July 2016.

content

According to Article 1 of its constitution, Schleswig-Holstein is a member state of the Federal Republic of Germany. Like the Basic Law, the state constitution prescribes the separation of powers between legislative power ( legislature , the state parliament), executive power ( executive , state government and administration) and judicial power ( judiciary , the courts). Another constitutional body is the State Audit Office . In addition, there is a so-called vertical separation of powers between the state level and the municipal level, each of which has its own responsibilities and tasks. The constitution also contains far-reaching elements of direct democracy .

A new element of the constitution from 1990 on are so-called state objective provisions such as B. the minority protection of the Frisian and Danish ethnic groups as well as gem. State Parliament resolution of November 14, 2012 for the German Sinti and Roma in the country (Art. 5), the promotion of equality between men and women (Art. 6), the protection of the natural foundations of life (Art. 7) or the protection and promotion of culture including the Low German language (Art. 9).

Until the establishment of a state constitutional court in Schleswig in May 2008, jurisdiction for state constitutional disputes lay with the Federal Constitutional Court .

Literature (chronological selection)

  • Detailed minutes of the joint meetings of the committees for the constitution and rules of procedure and internal administration from November 8th to December 6th, 1949 to discuss the draft of a state statute for Schleswig-Holstein . State Parliament, Kiel 1949 (State Bill No. 263/3, 3rd Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament)
  • Karl Mannzen : The state statute for Schleswig-Holstein . In: Yearbook of Public Law of the Present . Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 1957 ISSN  0075-2517 , Vol. 6.1957, pp. 251-283
  • Harald Nydahl: State statutes for Schleswig-Holstein. Text output with subject index . Nydahl, Kiel 1972
  • Uwe Barschel , Volkram Gebel: State statutes for Schleswig-Holstein. Commentary Wachholtz, Neumünster 1976 ISBN 3-529-06158-1
  • Magnus G. Staak: State statutes for Schleswig-Holstein. Text output with references and an explanatory introduction . 2., rework. Aufl. Deutscher Gemeindeverlag, Cologne 1977 ISBN 3-555-10060-2
  • On the creation of the 1949/50 constitution . In: Erich Maletzke, Klaus Volquartz: The Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament - Ten electoral terms in the house on the fjord . Kiel 1983, pp. 54-57
  • Provisional constitution of the state of Schleswig-Holstein of June 12, 1946. Basis for a new parliamentary-democratic beginning or outdated document of a constitutional transition? Documentation of the lecture event on June 12, 1986 ed. from the board of directors of the Lorenz von Stein Institute for Administrative Science at the Christian Albrechts University in Kiel . Kiel 1986 (sources on administrative history 2)
  • Edzard Schmidt-Jortzig: Reform considerations for the state statute Schleswig-Holstein. Constitutional consequences of the Barschel-Pfeiffer affair . Kiel 1988 (Writings of the Hermann Ehlers Academy 25)
  • Reinhard Eckstein: The reform of the state statutes for Schleswig-Holstein 1989/90 . Kiel 1991 (Kiel, Univ., MA, 1992)
  • Dorothee Hassenpflug-Hunger: Constitutional dimensions of parliamentary opposition according to the Basic Law and Art. 12 of the Constitution of Schleswig-Holstein . Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1999 ISBN 3-631-33467-2 (Kiel, Univ., Diss., 1998)
  • De Verfaten vun dat Land Sleswig-Holsteen. The constitution of the state of Schleswig-Holstein. Op Plattdüütsch and High German (Ed. The President of the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag). Translation into Low German by W. Diercks; J. Waack; ER Andersen. President of the Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament, Kiel 2000
  • Johannes Caspar (Ed.): Constitution of the State of Schleswig-Holstein. Comment . Lorenz-von-Stein-Inst. for administrative science , Kiel 2006 ISBN 3-936773-25-4 (Schleswig-Holstein State Law 2)
  • Felix Welti: The protection of people in need of care through the constitution of Schleswig-Holstein . In: Festschrift for the Schleswig-Holstein State Constitutional Court . Lorenz von Stein Institute for Administrative Science at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel 2008, pp. 179–198 (working paper / Lorenz-von-Stein-Institut 85)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament, printed matter 18/715
  2. ↑ Landtag in Schleswig-Holstein: Refusal to refer to God in the Kiel state constitution. Der Spiegel , July 22, 2016, accessed on July 22, 2016 .