A General Awareness to German Laws

The contemporary German Legal system is built upon the fundamentals of The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, which came into effect in the year 1949. This legal system is made up of mainly two forms of laws:

· Public Laws: This set of laws is used to manage the relations between a person and the state. These laws consist of criminal laws.

· Private Laws: The private laws are used to manage the relations between two people or companies along with the criminal law. The private laws have been highly influenced by the Roman law.

Public Law

Public laws are used to regulate the interactions taking place between a citizen and an official governing body. The opinions of the citizens do not play any role in implementation of these laws. Public laws are composed of 4 different forms of laws that have been named below:

· Constitutional Law: The constitutional laws are closely associated with the German Constitution. Its major role is to define the roles and rights of various institutions. Civil rights form a big chunk of these laws. The institution that holds the strongest authoritative power according to the Constitutional Law is the Federal Constitutional Court. Its sole purpose is to protect the German constitution by regulating the decisions of the government.

· Administrative Law: The laws that fall under the administrative domain are meant for the Executive. These laws are used to control the legal relations between the people and the State. In addition, these laws regulate the interactions taking place between the various levels of government. The Federal Administrative Court is known as the most powerful court in the administrative domain. However, in various laws such as tax law and social security law, various federal courts have been set up with special jurisdiction.

· Administrative Civil Law: The administrative Civil laws have been formulated to ensure that there is no unequal treatment experienced by citizens and all businesses. In these cases, the government functions based upon the Civil Code.

· Criminal Law: In Germany, the criminal law is based upon the Federal Law. According to this law, the minors under the age of 14 cannot be prosecuted for any form of crime. For minors under the age of 18, slight alterations can be made to the criminal law. The German Criminal law doesn’t preach death sentence. It is, indeed, forbidden by the constitution.

Private Law

Some of the most common private entities associated with the private laws are buyers, sellers, landlords, tenants and employees. Private laws can be exercised only in cases in which there exists no state authority.

Civil law falls under the domain of Private law. One of the most important Civil law states that the citizens are free to exercise their power in personal affairs without any State interference.

Procedural Law

Procedural laws are used to define the roles of the judges. According to the procedural law, both the parties enjoy equal rights or privileges. The judge accepts the evidence on his own.

These are some of the laws of German government which the citizens have to follow.

A Short History and Overview of German Law

The laws of Germany have a rich history. Whereas the laws from centuries ago may not be in place, they have some bearing on the current laws and how the average citizen is allowed to behave in public and in private. By taking a closer look at the laws of the land, it’s easier to get an idea of how to behave as a citizen as well as what businesses and government officials can get away with. Germany is not as strict as many would think with their laws, but you may be surprised where they are strict.

History of the Laws

The laws of the land date back centuries, but the majority of the current German law were established in the 19th century. Some laws date back as far as the Roman Empire or have been based on laws put in place when the Romans were in Germany. Other laws date back to and have their basis in Prussian law. The different civil, governmental and public laws have been altered slightly over time to be in keeping with the modern expectations as well as the form of government.

The modern expectation is the laws would be completely new after the constitution was written in 1949. In fact, there were several changes to laws, but since rural laws and similar ones were still apt to the needs of the people, they were only altered slightly or left completely alone. The pubic laws are the laws which underwent the most changes.

Public Laws

The public laws of the land have to do with mostly what citizens are obligated to. This stipulates the government has the right to collect taxes from all citizens and has the right to imprison citizens when they have broken the laws of the land. These public laws also create certain obligations upon the state to resolve crimes not only against the citizens, but internally against members of the government as well.

Criminal Laws

Under the German law, age is a very big determining factor for what you’re responsible for and how you will be tried for your crimes. For instance, children under 14 are not held responsible for their crimes. Those who are over 18, but under 21, may be allowed certain adjustments to the law if they’re found to be immature in nature. All cases are tried by judges and by the police. There are no juries in courts. Sentences can range from fines to life imprisonment, but the death sentence is not a concern for citizens since it’s forbidden in the culture.

Private Law and Civil Law

Private law is between two citizens whereas civil law is between a citizen and a legal entity. The laws are in place to help those who have been wronged in one way or another by other citizens or by companies, to find justice through the courts. In most cases, the government takes a stance of being a mediator since the belief is that the citizens have the right to manage their own affairs without the state interfering.