Fundamental rights in the German Constitution

In the Federal Constitution, the majority of the Grundrechte are contained in the first title, Articles 1 to 19 of the Grundgesetz (GG).

According to this article, the Constitutional Court is entitled to hear appeals concerning not just the Grundrechte contained in Arts.

In addition to the Grundrechte, the Constitution guarantees a number of other public rights, such as the uniform application of federal law between states (Art.28 (2)(1) GG) and the independence of the church (Art.

There are also lists of fundamental rights in the majority of state constitutions, which vary slightly from one another but are never capable of ruling out a Grundrecht.

All the Grundrechte have a binding effect on each of the constitutional institutions, regardless of whether it is the executive, legislature or judiciary, federally or in one of the states (Länder).

It is also irrelevant whether the state was directly or indirectly involved in the violation, whether it acted through public or private law or through legal entities under private law; public bodies are always bound by the Grundrechte (Art.

Nevertheless it is disputed whether all German fundamental rights apply to them in light of the prohibition of discrimination contained in Art.

Although the Grundgesetz might be changed with a 2/3 majority of the Bundestag, the original Fundamental Rights are protected by article 19.