Civil service

As a civilian military service or conscription , the obligation of civilians referred to perform certain work for the state or on behalf of the State, not covered by the prohibition of forced labor and do not fall in the military in response to the fulfillment of military service be exercised. In the case of an order for civil service, the right to strike is generally canceled and there is an obligation to work . This mandatory service can only be introduced for certain professional groups.

Types of Civil Service Duties

Civil service duties can be roughly divided into three basic types.

Civil service due to extraordinary events

In times of need, such as in times of war , in exceptional economic situations , in the event of extraordinary natural events or during the occurrence of epidemics or pandemics , civil service can serve to carry out the tasks deemed necessary by the state for a certain period of time, in principle until the restoration of the "Normal state" to ensure. These important tasks are, for example, the basic supply of the population, such as medical care, food supply, supplying the defense industry for the duration of the war or emergency, as well as the (rough) repair of damage to the infrastructure after severe weather or environmental disasters.

Civil service for the benefit of the community

A state can order repeated compulsory service for a longer period of time, for example to ensure fire protection in a municipality or to carry out simple work at the municipal level that smaller municipalities are not able to do financially or personally.

Civil service to strengthen "national values"

Some countries have compulsory service for certain age or educational groups in order to convey "national values" and to strengthen national cohesion, which in part has to be served in military and social institutions.

Prohibition of forced labor

Forced labor is fundamentally prohibited by various international conventions. However, civil service is exempt from this prohibition within defined limits. For example, it is an exception in the Convention on Forced and Compulsory Labor of the International Labor Organization (ILO) from 1930 and in Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights .

States that have signed the ILO Convention on the Abolition of Forced Labor from 1957

The following mandatory services are not considered forced labor:

Compulsory service in the military and in military-like or paramilitary institutions, such as compulsory military service in the Austrian Armed Forces or, as an example of a military-like institution, the border guard duty currently suspended in Germany with the former Federal Border Guard , today's Federal Police . Alternative military service, such as community service , fall into this category.

usual civic duties, such as compulsory service in a compulsory or militia fire brigade

work in the penal system

Necessary work in cases of force majeure, for example mandatory clean-up work after natural disasters ( dike assistance ) or the civil service of certain professional groups, such as doctors, truck drivers, etc. in exceptional economic situations

Work that serves the immediate good of the community, such as hand and tension services in small communities.

Linking social assistance and compulsory work (workfare concept)

In addition to the exceptions mentioned above, some states have made the payment of social assistance or unemployment benefits conditional on the performance of community service . In Australia , Great Britain and the USA this concept is referred to as workfare ( Work + Social Welfare = workfare , ie "work and social welfare"). In Germany, a similar program, civil work , is discussed from time to time .

Civil duty in the past

Belgium

To prevent doctors' strike, the mandatory service for hospital doctors was temporarily introduced in Belgium in 1964 .

Germany

German Empire at the time of National Socialism

In addition to the use of foreign forced laborers during the Second World War , the forced use of the German civilian population in the Reich Labor Service was a means of National Socialist labor market policy as early as 1935 . This served since 1939 to maintain the so-called home front .

German Democratic Republic

In fact, it was mandatory for the GDR population to counteract the deficits of the planned economy through additional personal commitment with subbotnik deployments and as part of the national economic mass initiative (VMI).

Greece

In Greece , the introduction of civil service obligations was made possible by law in 1974 and several governments have made use of it. As early as 1979 bank employees and several times in the 1980s and 1990s employees of traffic and transport companies were obliged to work. In the years from 2010 to 2014, due to the sovereign debt crisis, certain professional groups were made subject to civil service in order to provide public services as a national interest. Truck drivers, employees of transport companies and municipalities and teachers were obliged to work. In Greece, these compulsory services were known as political mobilization. In 2015, at the instigation of the ruling party Syriza, the possibility of civil service was abolished.

Professional groups affected by civil service during the sovereign debt crisis in Greece
year	Occupational groups
2010	Truck driver
2011	City cleaning staff
2013	Staff of the Athens metro , tram and suburban trains
2013	Ship workers
2013	Teacher
2014	Employees of the power plants

Akce Z memorial plaque in Nenačovice

Seychelles

The National Youth Service (NYS) (German: "Nationale Jugenddienst") was a compulsory civil service for young people, which was introduced in 1981 by the government of the Seychelles and lasted two years until it was shortened to a period of one year in 1991. The program included civic education and paramilitary training. The opposition parties rejected the program because they think the program of the ruling at this time mainly Unity Party Parti Lepep (PL) was mediated and the participants were rarely allowed to visit their families. This compulsory service was discontinued in November 1998.

Theoretical instruction for the Bevin Boys on the miner's lamp at Ollerton, Nottinghamshire, February 1945

Czechoslovakia

The action Z (Czech: Akce Z ) was in the days of socialist rule in Czechoslovakia an unpaid activity of the population. Officially - similar to the Subbotniks in the GDR - it was voluntary work. As stated in Section 27.1 of Government Decree 14/1959, it was a question of maintenance measures (Czech: z velebování). Only apparently these actions were voluntary. In reality, a certain amount of pressure was exerted on the citizens, participation in the actions was documented, and citizens whose participation was unsatisfactory were at least interviewed, threatened with consequences in the workplace, etc.

United Kingdom

Between December 1943 and March 1948, young men in the United Kingdom , known as Bevin Boys , were hired to work in coal mines . This happened due to a lack of labor during the Second World War , with the civilian conscription lasting until 1948.

Civil Service Duties in the Present

Federal Republic of Germany

Federal level

The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany regulates civil service obligations in Articles Art. 12, Paragraph 2 and Art. 12a . After that, men can be drafted for military service and for service in the border guard or a civil defense association. If they refuse to work with the weapon, they can be called up for alternative service. In the event of tension or defense , conscripts can be called upon to provide civilian services, such as protecting the civilian population with the previously planned Civil Protection Corps (ZSK) .

According to Art. 12a Paragraph 4, women between the ages of 18 and 55 can be called upon to perform medical services in the event of a defense.

If necessary, according to Art. 12a Paragraph 5, the freedom of professional practice can be restricted in the event of tension or defense.

A general service obligation that goes beyond the conventional service obligations within the meaning of Article 12.2 of the Basic Law is assessed as legally problematic and is likely to violate not only international agreements, but also Article 12.2 of the Basic Law without a constitutional amendment .

Logo of the French service national universel

Country level

In addition to on the federal level called civil duties are at the level of countries even more mandatory services, the so-called traditional duties , are:

Dyke assistance: compulsory work in the event of (impending) floods
Hand and tension services : some federal states allow the municipalities to oblige their citizens to provide natural services, such as maintenance and repair work. This is currently done regularly in some small communities.
Compulsory fire brigade : some federal states allow their communities to call their citizens to serve in a fire brigade . This is currently the case in a few parishes.

Swiss Civil Defense Museum

France

In 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron introduced the Service national universel (SNU) , the “General National Service”, which will be compulsory for all citizens aged 16-25 from 2021. It initially lasts one month and can be performed in both civil and military facilities. The aim of this general service is to convey French values, to strengthen social cohesion and to promote social commitment.

Nigeria

Since 1973, graduates of Nigerian universities and technical colleges have been required to perform civil service in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) (German: "Nationales Jugenddienstkorps"). The government wants to involve the graduates in the nation-building process and the further development of the country. Compulsory service lasts one year, and university and college graduates cannot be employed in state institutions (and most private institutions) until the service has been completed or they have been released.

Switzerland

The political system in Switzerland is characterized by the so-called militia system , according to which public tasks are carried out on a part-time basis. This currently applies not only to conscription in the Swiss Army , but also to civilian service. In contrast to the organization of fire brigades in most countries as professional or voluntary fire brigades , in Switzerland there are mostly militia fire brigades , i.e. compulsory fire brigades.

In Swiss civil protection there is also a compulsory service .

Mandatory services in political discourse

In Germany, various models of compulsory service are repeatedly discussed under different names. In 2020, in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, the introduction of compulsory service for doctors and medical staff in the event of an epidemic was planned; the corresponding bills were already in preparation. However, after protests from medical associations , care chambers and other interest groups, the plans were dropped.

The providers of voluntary services, community services and development services have repeatedly spoken out against setting up compulsory services in Germany. In terms of social policy, the labor service concept was resumed in 2005 by the lawyer, sociologist and publicist Sibylle Tönnies , with a detailed discussion of its sociological components and its abuse under National Socialism. There are many concerns as to whether a compulsory service, particularly in the social field, would be compatible with European law and international agreements. An overview of some models:

Models for compulsory service in the social sector

Compulsory social year : In 2000, following the so-called Kreil decision of the European Court of Justice, which gave women basic access to military service, a compulsory social year was introduced in the form of general compulsory service for men and women.

Community service: In July 2003, the then Prime Minister of Lower Saxony Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) brought up the idea of a labor service with his proposal for a one-year compulsory community service for young people. Incidentally, this would bring military justice back into line with the requirements of our Basic Law (Bonner GA. Of July 24, 2003).

General compulsory service: In October 2005, the later Federal Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung (CDU) made a further push for general compulsory service with his proposal for general compulsory service for young men and women , which should include compulsory military service as well as all other social and development aid services .

Year of service for everyone: Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer called for a compulsory year of service for everyone on December 7, 2018 in her application speech for the CDU chairmanship. As a justification, she said: “This state is not available for free. This state is worth advocating for. ”In November 2019, Kramp-Karrenbauer repeated the idea of a" compulsory service "for school leavers in a workshop discussion.

Models for recipients of social assistance and unemployment benefits

Community Service: The labor market policy chairman of the CSU took the term again and called in an interview with the Bild newspaper also on 14 June 2006, the introduction of a community service compulsory service designated for all "able-bodied" long-term unemployed, in receipt of unemployment benefits to daily for eight hours of unpaid work.

Citizen work : This is a workfare concept (Work + Social Welfare = workfare, ie "work and social assistance"), which aims to provide recipients of basic security benefits for jobseekers in Germany (before 2005: unemployment benefits and social assistance ) activate and use them in charitable work at the local level. There were first plans for this as early as 1996 as part of a volunteer program.

Models with a training character

Germany internship: In 2019, the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder proposed the idea of a mandatory Germany internship , which should be completed during the training period at state, social, ecological and civil society institutions or the Bundeswehr .

Individual evidence

↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110604103218/http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/german/docs/gc029.htm

↑ https://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm

↑ https://dejure.org/gesetze/GemO/10.html

↑ Convention 29 of the ILO on Forced and Compulsory Labor 1930 ( Memento of June 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive )

↑ https://www.nytimes.com/1964/04/13/archives/belgian-doctors-answer-callup.html

↑ Dietmar Petzina : The mobilization of German workers before and during the Second World War, quarterly books for contemporary history 1970, pp. 443–455