(Jan. 18, 2017) On January 11, 2017, the German government agreed on a draft act that aims to ensure equal pay for work of equal value for women and men in the same workplace. (Gesetzentwurf der Bundesregierung, Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Förderung der Transparenz von Entgeltstrukturen [Draft Act of the Federal Government, Draft Act to Promote Transparency in […]
Topic: Discrimination, Equal protection, Wages and hours, Women's rights
(Jan. 12, 2017) On January 1, 2017, the first phase of reforms of the controversial Federal Participation Act entered into force in Germany. The other parts will enter into force on January 1 of 2018, 2020, and 2023 respectively. (Gesetz zur Stärkung der Teilhabe und Selbstbestimmung von Menschen mit Behinderungen (Bundesteilhabegesetz – BTHG) [Federal Participation […]
Topic: Equal protection, People with disabilities, Social security, Social welfare
(Dec. 21, 2016) On December 6, 2016, the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht, BVerfG) ruled that the 13th Act to Amend the Atomic Energy Act was partially unconstitutional. The 13th Amendment Act for the first time set fixed end dates for the operation of nuclear power plants and reduced the additional operating time that had […]
Topic: Constitutional courts, Energy, Judiciary, nuclear power
(Dec. 15, 2016) On November 8, 2016, the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht, BVerfG) declined to accept for review a constitutional complaint alleging that mandatory participation in a co-ed swim class for a female Muslim student infringed on the applicant’s freedom of religion. In an unusual move, the Court provided reasoning for its refusal to hear […]
Topic: Church and state relations, Constitutional courts, Education, Judiciary
(Dec. 15, 2016) On December 13, 2016, an act implementing an amendment to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic entered into force in Germany. The amendment allows the transfer of driving tasks to the vehicle itself, provided that the technologies used are in conformity with the United Nations vehicle regulations or can be overridden or switched […]
Topic: Motor vehicles, Transportation and public works, Treaties and International Agreements
(Dec. 5, 2016) In November 2016, the Federal Bar Association (Bundesrechtsanwaltskammer, BRAK) and the German Lawyers’ Association (Deutscher Anwaltverein, DAV) proposed a mandatory lawyers’ quota for the appointment of justices to the Federal Constitutional Court. They suggested that at least one of the justices in each of the two chambers should be an attorney who […]
Topic: Constitutional courts, Judiciary, Lawyers and legal services
(Nov. 18, 2016) On November 4, 2016, the German Bundesrat, the constitutional body through which the German states participate in the legislative process, approved an act to expand the powers of the Federal Intelligence Service (Bundesnachrichtendienst, BND) to gather signals intelligence from foreign targets located abroad (“foreign-foreign signals intelligence gathering”) and to cooperate with foreign […]
Topic: Executive agencies, International affairs, National security
(Oct. 3, 2016) On September 23, 2016, the German Bundesrat, the constitutional body through which the German states participate in the legislative process, passed an amendment to the German Criminal Code that expands criminal liability relating to sexual assault, rape, and sexual harassment in order to close the existing liability gaps. (Gesetz zur Änderung des […]
Topic: Crime and law enforcement, Criminal code, Sex offenses
(Sept. 30, 2016) On July 6, 2016, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) held that a statement in a patient’s living will that “I do not wish to receive life-prolonging treatments” was not sufficient to legally bind a patient’s representative to authorize removal of an artificial feeding tube. The Court also separately found that an authorized representative of a patient can only consent to […]
Topic: Health, Inheritance and succession, Patient's rights, Powers of attorney
(Sept. 9, 2016) On August 28, 2016, the German Federal Government published a Civil Defense Concept in which it set out a federal strategy to facilitate non-military defense measures in Germany in a national emergency such as an attack against the country or a natural disaster. (Bundesministerium des Innern [Federal Ministry of the Interior], Konzeption […]
Topic: Disasters, Emergency management, National security
