Fundamental and Human Rights
Fundamental and Human Rights
The Basic Rights of the German Constitution play an important role in Germany. The Federal Constitutional Court is, in comparison with other States´ Constitutional Courts, a pretty powerful institution. Nowadays, the Basic Rights of the German Constitution and the Federal Constitutional Court come along with other codifications and other courts: the European Convention of Human Rights, with regard to which the European Court of Human Rights is the court of ultimate resort, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which in areas determined by European Union Law provides the measures for National Courts and finally for the European Court of Justice. The functions and the scope of protection of Basic and Human Rights are continually developing. The interplay between the three codifications is not yet sufficiently clarified.
The members of the Chair are engaged in general theoretical and doctrinal issues as well as in the basic rights concerning communication and information, privacy and data protection. We also deal with the legal and societal consequences of genetics and biotechnologies and their impact on basic rights. This includes questions such as: Can we refer to human nature if we establish and justify human rights?
Main areas of work
- Basic Rights and Human Rights on a national and transnational level
- Interplay between Basic Rights and Human Rights in the multi-layered European Order
- Communication and Information Rights, Right to Privacy, Right to Informational Self-Determination
- Human Rights and Human Nature