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Subsidiarity and Judicial Review in German Federalism: The Decision of the Federal Constitutional Court in the Geriatric Nursing Act Case

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

Markus Rau

Extract

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On October 24, 2002, the Second Senate of the Bundesverfassungsgericht (German Federal Constitutional Court) issued its ruling in the Geriatric Nursing Act case. The eagerly expected judgment not only puts an end to the discussion on the Federation's legislative powers in the field of geriatrics, which has occupied German politicians and constitutional scholars since the mid-1980s, when the drop in the number of applicants for geriatric nursing jobs and the steady growth of the elderly population have led to calls for a standardization of the education for geriatric nurses at Federal level. More importantly, the decision brings clarity to the question of the justiciability of the so-called Erforderlichkeitsklausel (“necessity clause”) laid down in Article 72 para. 2 of the Basic Law.

Type
Public Law
Information
German Law Journal , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , 01 March 2003 , pp. 223 - 236
Copyright
Copyright © 2003 by German Law Journal GbR 

References

1 Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG), judgment of 24 October 2002, 2 BvF 1/01. Reprinted in, 2003 Deutsches Verwaltungsblatt (DVBl.) 44; 2003 Die Öffentliche Verwaltung (DÖV) 119. Also available at: <http://www.bverfg.de/cgi-bin/link.pl?entscheidungen>..>Google Scholar

2 A first draft for a law on geriatric nursing was presented by the Federal Government in 1990. See, Bundestags-Drucksache (BT-Drs.) 11/8012. The draft was rejected, however, by the Bundesrat (Council of Federal States - the second chamber of the German Parliament) because the Länder (German Federal States) rejected the competence of the Federal legislature over the matter. See, ibid., at 21 et seq.Google Scholar

3 Official translation in: Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. Promulgated by the Parliamentary Council on 23 May 1949 and as amended up to 16 July 1998. Published by the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government, 1998.Google Scholar

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9 See, Article 4 of the Geriatric Nursing Act.Google Scholar

10 For an introduction into the German Federal Constitutional Court's power to issue temporary injunctions pursuant to Section 32 of the Federal Constitutional Court Act, see, Andreas Maurer, The Federal Constitutional Court's Emergency Power to Intervene: Provisional Measures Pursuant to Article 32 of the Federal Constitutional Court Act, 2 German Law Journal No. 13 (1 August 2001) www.germanlawjournal.com.Google Scholar

11 BVerfG, order of 22 May 2001, 2 BvQ 48/00.Google Scholar

12 BVerfG, order of 7 November 2001, 2 BvQ 48/00; BVerfG, order of 29 April 2002, 2 BvQ 48/00.Google Scholar

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16 See, e.g., Article 12 para. 1 (1) of the 1919 Weimar Constitution, which stated that: “The Länder shall have the right to legislate as long as and to the extent that the Reich does not exercise its legislative power.”Google Scholar

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25 For the discussion, see, e.g., Markus Kettner, Das Subsidiaritätsprinzip als Beweislastumkehrregel. Überlegungen zur Neufassung von Art. 72 II GG und zur Justitiabilität des Subsidiaritätsprinzips, 1995 Zeitschrift für Rechtspolitik (ZRP) 367 et seq.; Hubertus Rybak and Hans Hofmann, Verteilung der Gesetzgebungsrechte zwischen Bund und Ländern nach der Reform des Grundgesetzes, 1995 Neue Zeitschrift für Verwaltungsrecht (NVwZ) 230 et seq.; Arndt Schmehl, Die erneuerte Erforderlichkeitsklausel in Art. 72 Abs. 2 GG, 1996 DÖV 724 et seq.; Gerold Schmidt, Die neue Subsidiaritätsprinzipregelung des Art. 72 GG in der deutschen und europäischen Wirtschaftsverfassung, 1995 DÖV 657 et seq.; Rupert Scholz and Klaus G. Meyer-Teschendorf, Reduzierung der Normenflut durch qualifizierte Bedürfnisprüfung, 1996 ZRP 404 et seq.Google Scholar

26 Section C. I. of the decision.Google Scholar

27 See, e.g., 7 BVerfGE 29, 44; 33 BVerfGE 125, 152 et seq.; 42 BVerfGE 20, 29; 61 BVerfGE 149, 175; 68 BVerfGE 319, 328.Google Scholar

28 Section C. I. 1. a) of the decision.Google Scholar

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30 12 BVerfGE 205.Google Scholar

31 See, e.g., 75 BVerfGE 108, 146.Google Scholar

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33 See, e.g., 3 BVerfGE 407, 421; 26 BVerfGE 246, 256 et seq.; 98 BVerfGE 265, 299.Google Scholar

34 Section C. I. 1. a) dd) (1) of the decision.Google Scholar

35 98 BVerfGE 265Google Scholar

36 See, Degenhart, Christoph, Staatsrecht I. Staatsorganisationsrecht, at 56 et seq. (18th ed., 2002).Google Scholar

37 Article 30 of the Basic Law.Google Scholar

38 Section C. I. 1. a) of the decision. See, similarly 7 BVerfGE 29, 44; 33 BVerfGE 125, 152; 61 BVerfGE 149, 175.Google Scholar

39 Sections C. II. 3. to 4. a) of the decision.Google Scholar

40 See, supra at C. I.Google Scholar

41 1 BVerfGE 299, 312. See, 8 BVerfGE 274, 307; 11 BVerfGE 126, 129 et seq.; 20 BVerfGE 283, 293; 33 BVerfGE 265, 294; 47 BVerfGE 109, 127.Google Scholar

42 54 BVerfGE 277, 297 et seq.Google Scholar

43 Radbruch, Gustav, Rechtsphilosophie, at 107 (Ralf Dreier and Stanley L. Paulson eds., 1999).Google Scholar

44 Section C. II. 4. b) of the decision.Google Scholar

45 Similarly, , e.g., Bodo Pieroth, in Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland - Kommentar, Art. 93 para. 23a (Hans D. Jarass and Bodo Pieroth eds., 6th ed. 2002); Schmehl, supra note 25, at 728; Stefan Oeter, in Das Bonner grundgesetz. Kommentar, Vol. II, Art. 72 para. 114 (Hermann von Mangoldt, Friedrich Klein and Christian Starck eds., 4th ed., 2000).Google Scholar

46 It has sometimes been contended though that recourse to Article 93 para. 1 no. 2a of the Basic Law was circular, as the norm presupposed the justiciability of Article 72 para. 2 but could not independently justify it. See, Neumeyer, supra note 15, at 158. From a systematic point of view, this argument is, however, misleading.Google Scholar

47 Section C. II. 4. a) of the decision.Google Scholar

48 Section C. II. 5 of the decision.Google Scholar

49 Sections C. II. 5. a) and b) of the decision.Google Scholar

50 Section C. II. 6. c) of the decision.Google Scholar

51 Ibid.Google Scholar

52 See section B. 5. b) of the decision.Google Scholar

53 Section C. II. 7. of the decision.Google Scholar

54 See, supra at C. II. 1.Google Scholar

55 It may be noted in this context that the Court's decision in the Geriatric Nursing Act case comprises 152 (!) pages.Google Scholar