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Basic Rights and the Basic Law

This topic covers the Grundgesetz (Basic Law) and the basic rights it guarantees. The Grundgesetz has been the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany since 1949. It opens with Article 1, which declares human dignity inviolable, and then lists further basic rights: equal rights for women and men, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and others.

What matters for the test is that these basic rights bind the state, they are not just a general statement of intent. The state cannot simply pass a law that restricts a basic right without good reason, and courts can declare such a law unconstitutional.

A common trap: basic rights in Germany largely apply to everyone in the country, not only to German citizens. Only a few rights, such as the right to vote in Bundestag elections or, in some readings, freedom of assembly, are explicitly tied to German citizenship ("Deutschenrechte"). Questions about specific articles of the Grundgesetz also like to mix up similar-sounding terms, such as freedom of expression and freedom of the press, which are related but not the same thing.

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