Section II: Basic Rights; State Aims

Article 6

The dignity of man shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority.

Article 7

Everybody shall have the right to the free development of his/her personality insofar as he/she does not violate the rights of others or offend against the constitutional order or against morality.

Article 8

(1) Everybody shall have the right to life and physical integrity. The liberty of the individual shall be inviolable. Intrusion on these rights may only be made pursuant to a law.

(2) Every person arrested or detained shall be informed within 24 hours by what authority and on what grounds the deprivation of liberty was ordered. The next of kin shall have the right to be informed of the deprivation of liberty. At the request of the person arrested or detained, other persons shall also be informed without delay of the arrest or detention.

(3) Every person arrested or detained shall be taken before the competent judge within 48 hours, who shall decide on the arrest or detention.

h2. Article 9

(1) An accused person shall have the right to avail him/herself of the aid of counsel at every stage of the proceedings.

(2) An accused person shall be held innocent until convicted by a court.

Article 10

(1) All persons shall be equal before the law.

(2) No one may be prejudiced or favoured because of sex, birth, race, language, national or social origin, faith, religious or political opinions or sexual orientation.

(3) Women and men shall have equal rights. The Land shall be obliged to create and safeguard equality and the equal participation of women and men in all fields of social life. Affirmative action shall be permissible in order to redress existing inequalities.

Article 11

People with disabilities may not be prejudiced. The Land shall be obliged to ensure equal conditions for people with and without disabilities.

Article 12

(1) Marriage and family shall enjoy the special protection of the state.

(2) Other living arrangements designed for permanence shall have a claim to protection against discrimination.

(3) The care and upbringing of children shall be a natural right of and a duty primarily incumbent on the parents.

(4) Children may not be separated from their families against the will of the persons entitled to bring them up save, in accordance with a law, in cases where those so entitled fail in their duties as parents or guardians.

(5) Those who bring up children or look after others in a domestic community deserve assistance.

(6) Every mother shall be entitled to the protection and care of the community.

(7) Women and men shall be enabled to make the bringing up of children and home care compatible with gainful employment and participation in public life. Single parents of both sexes, as well as women during pregnancy and after childbirth, shall have a claim to special protection in respect of employment.

Article 13

(1) All children are entitled to develop their personalities, to be raised without violence, and to the special protection of the community against violence, neglect, and exploitation. The state shall respect, protect, and promote the rights of children as individual personalities and shall ensure that their living conditions are suitable for children.

(2) Children born outside marriage shall be provided by law with the same opportunities for their physical and mental development and for their place in society as are enjoyed by those born within marriage.

Article 14

(1) Everybody shall have the right within the law to give free and public expression to his/her opinions as long as he/she does not threaten or violate the freedom guaranteed by the Constitution.

(2) Everybody shall have the right to inform him/herself of the opinions of others, especially also those of other peoples, from the press or news media of all kinds.

(3) There shall be no censorship.

Article 15

(1) In the courts, everybody shall have the right to a hearing in accordance with the law.

(2) An act may be punished only if it constituted a criminal offence under the law applicable before the act was committed.

(3) Nobody may be punished for the same act more than once under general criminal law.

(4) Where a person’s rights are violated by public authority, he/she shall have recourse to the law. Insofar as no other jurisdiction has been established recourse shall be had to the courts of ordinary jurisdiction. para 2 second sentence of the Basic Law shall not be affected.

(5) Extraordinary courts shall not be permissible. No one may be removed from the jurisdiction of their lawful judge.

Article 16

The privacy of correspondence, posts and telecommunications shall be inviolable.

Article 17

The right of freedom of movement, in particular the freedom to choose a domicile, occupation or profession and place of work, shall be guaranteed, but shall be restricted by the obligation to help overcome public emergencies.

Article 18

Everybody shall have the right to work. It shall be the responsibility of the Land to protect and promote this right. The Land shall contribute to creating and maintaining jobs and to ensuring a high level of employment within the framework of the macroeconomic equilibrium. If no employment can be provided, there shall be a claim to maintenance from public funds.

Article 19

(1) Nobody may be prevented within the framework of valid legislation from exercising his/her civic rights or those of honorary public office, in particular not by their employment.

(2) Access to all public offices shall be open to everybody irrespective of origin, sex, political party and religious confession, provided that they are appropriately qualified and otherwise well-suited.

Article 20

(1) Everybody shall have the right to education. The Land shall, on the basis of the law, provide and promote access to public education institutions for every person; initial vocational training shall be promoted in particular.

(2) The Land shall protect and promote cultural life.

Article 21

Art and scholarship, research and teaching shall be free. Freedom of teaching shall not absolve from allegiance to the Constitution.

Article 22

(1) The Land shall be obliged to implement social security as far as it is able. Social security should enable people to determine their own lives in dignity and on their own responsibility.

(2) The establishment and maintenance of facilities for guidance, care and nursing in old age, sickness, disability, invalidity and need of long-term care, as well as for other social and charitable purposes, shall be promoted by the state irrespective of their managing agencies.

Article 23

(1) Property shall be guaranteed. Its substance and limits shall be determined by law.

(2) Expropriation shall only be permissible in the public interest pursuant to the law.

Article 24

Any abuse of economic power shall be unlawful. In particular any private monopolies aimed at the domination of production and markets shall be deemed to constitute an abuse of economic power, and shall be prohibited.

Article 25

The right of codetermination for wage-earning and salaried employees in the economy and the administrative apparatus shall be guaranteed by law.

Article 26

All men and women shall have the right to assemble peacefully and unarmed for legally permissible purposes. In the case of outdoor assemblies, this right may be restricted by or pursuant to a law.

Article 27

(1) All men and women shall have the right to form associations, partnerships and corporations. Associations may not pursue any purposes or take any measures through which the fulfilment of duties by constitutional organs and administrative bodies operating under public law is endangered.

(2) The right to strike shall be guaranteed.

Article 28

(1) Everybody shall have the right to adequate housing. The Land shall promote the creation and maintenance of adequate housing, particularly for people on a low income, as well as private ownership of housing.

(2) The privacy of the home shall be inviolable. Searches may only be carried out on an order by a judge, or by the police if a person is pursued having been caught in the very act; such police measures shall be subject to approval by a judge within 48 hours.

Article 29

(1) Freedom of faith and conscience, as well as freedom of creed, religious or ideological profession, shall be inviolable. The undisturbed practice of religion shall be guaranteed.

(2) Racist incitement and the manifestation of national or religious hatred contradict the spirit of the Constitution and shall be punishable.

Article 30

(1) Acts tending to disturb the peaceful coexistence of peoples contradict the spirit of the Constitution and shall be punishable.

(2) Everybody shall have the right to refuse to render military service without incurring disadvantages.

Article 31

(1) The environment and the natural basis of existence shall enjoy the special protection of the Land.

(2) Animals shall be respected as living creatures and protected against preventable suffering.

Article 32

Sport is a part of life which is worthy of promotion and protection. Members of all sections of society shall be enabled to participate in sport.

Article 33

The right of the individual to personally determine on principle the disclosure and use of his/her personal data shall be safeguarded. Any restriction of this right shall require legislation. This shall be permissible only in the predominant public interest.

Article 34

Everybody shall have the right, individually or jointly with others, to address written requests, suggestions or complaints to the competent agencies, in particular the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Borough Assemblies or the Borough Offices.

Article 35

(1) Sundays and public holidays shall be protected as days of rest. (2) The First of May shall be a public holiday.

Article 36

(1) The basic rights guaranteed by the Constitution shall be binding on the legislature, the administrative apparatus and the judiciary.

(2) Restrictions of the basic rights shall be permissible by law only insofar as they do not violate the fundamental idea enshrined in these rights.

(3) Everybody shall be entitled to resist when the basic rights laid down in the Constitution are patently violated.

Article 37

Articles 14, 26 and 27 may not be invoked by persons who attack or jeopardise basic rights, and particularly not by anyone who pursues National Socialist or other totalitarian or bellicose aims.