Germany
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- federal parliamentary republic
- CONSTITUTION
- May 23, 1949, became the constitution of unified Germany on October 3, 1990; amended several times, last in 2020
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- civil law; recognizes ICJ jurisdiction as mandatory with reservations
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- bicameral Parliament (Parlament), Federal Assembly (Bundestag) and Federal Council (Bundesrat)
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Federal Court of Justice (the court is composed of 127 judges, including the court president, vice presidents, presiding judges, other judges and organized into 25 senates divided into 12 civil chambers, 5 criminal chambers, and 8 special chambers); Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (composed of 2 senates each divided into 3 chambers, each with a president and 8 members); Federal Administrative Court; Federal Finance Court; Federal Labor Court; Federal Social Court; each of the 16 federal states or Länder has its own constitutional court and a hierarchy of ordinary (civil, criminal, family) and specialized (administrative, financial, labor, social) courts; two English-speaking commercial courts were opened at the end of 2020 in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg: the English-speaking commercial court in Stuttgart and the English-speaking commercial court in Mannheim
RELIGIONS
Roman Catholic 26%, Protestant 23.7%, Muslim 3.6%, other 4.8%, none 41.9% (estimate 2021)
From the country
- FEBRUARY 15, 2000GermanyDEATH PENALTY
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer met with Turkish Foreign...
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer met with Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem to discuss Turkey's EU candidacy
- FEBRUARY 11, 2000GermanyDEATH PENALTY
The EU Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said he expected...
The EU Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said he expected Turkey to abolish the death penalty during the European Court of Human Rights hearing that was to hear the complaint from Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) chief, Abdullah Ocalan
- JANUARY 21, 2000GermanyDEATH PENALTY
German businessman Helmut Hofer returned home from...
German businessman Helmut Hofer returned home from Iran, where he spent two years on death row for having illicit sex with a Moslem woman
- JANUARY 13, 2000GermanyDEATH PENALTY
The Turkish government's decision to suspend the execution...
The Turkish government's decision to suspend the execution of Abdullah Ocalan was seen as a positive sign by the German government
- JANUARY 1, 2000GermanyDEATH PENALTY
The Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany (1949)...
The Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany (1949) at Art
- SEPTEMBER 14, 1999GermanyDEATH PENALTY
On September 14, Germany said it would sue the United...
On September 14, Germany said it would sue the United States in the World Court in The Hague for violating international laws and treaties by executing the LaGrand brothers
- JUNE 25, 1999GermanyDEATH PENALTY
On June 25, the German Presidency of the European Union...
On June 25, the German Presidency of the European Union stressed the fact that at least 7 people had been put to death in Cuba since the beginning of the year
- JUNE 23, 1999GermanyDEATH PENALTY
On June 23, Interior Minister Otto Schily (SPD), said...
On June 23, Interior Minister Otto Schily (SPD), said that if Kurd leader Abdullah Ocalan's death sentence were carried out it would make Turkey's joining the European Union more problematical
- APRIL 28, 1999GermanyDEATH PENALTY
Germany, as President of the European Union, presented...
Germany, as President of the European Union, presented the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 28 (1999/61)
- MARCH 23, 1999GermanyDEATH PENALTY
On March 23, Germany introduced the question of the...
On March 23, Germany introduced the question of the death penalty at the Commission on Human Rights and Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer declared in his inaugural speech: "Europeans believe that the death penalty can not be justified either ethically or l
- JANUARY 1, 1999GermanyDEATH PENALTY
The Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany (1949)...
The Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany (1949) at Art
- JANUARY 1, 1999GermanyDEATH PENALTY
Arizona executed two German citizens, Karl and Walter...
Arizona executed two German citizens, Karl and Walter LaGrand, Karl on February 24 and Walter on March 3, for killing a bank manager in Arizona in 1982