The corona crisis is completely changing public life in Germany. Is there even a curfew - as in Italy, Spain and France? What the laws regulate - and what doesn't.
- Corona crisis: Italy, France, Spain and Belgium have ordered curfews.
- In Germany, there is no curfew for citizens because of the corona virus * .
- Why a curfew would be difficult to implement politically and legally in this country.
Munich - Italy, France, Spain and Belgium - all of them have now imposed them: the curfew . In the corona crisis , this means in particular is intended to help stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic .
Corona crisis in Germany: Bavaria has declared a disaster
For many citizens, it can not only be observed on social media, the term curfew alone means uncertainty. State of emergency in Germany because of Corona after Bavaria has already declared the disaster?
"There will be no formal curfew , but everyone should think again about what makes sense. Care is important, of course, but we must do everything we can to prevent the bad outbreak. Nobody can give a guarantee that it will work, but it is the only effective measure, "said Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder in an interview with the ARD daily topics with the note that" that can change day by day ".
On Wednesday evening (March 18th, 2020) Angela Merkel wants to address the citizens in a TV address and ask them to participate in the measures.
"There is no curfew per se in Germany"
But what would a curfew mean for the Germans? And what are the legal and political hurdles?
“There is no curfew per se in Germany . In my opinion, there is no legal regulation for this, ”explains a high-ranking lawyer in an interview with the Ippen Digital central editorial office :“ If things get as far in Germany - as now in France - then the federal government could / should enact a corresponding law. Or a regulation that should also be sufficient. "
Corona virus in Germany: There is no law for a curfew
Specifically, this means that the Bundestag and Bundesrat would have to pass a corresponding law in an urgent procedure in which a curfew would be regulated and defined in detail.
This is difficult during the corona pandemic * , of course, because over 100 people are banned from meetings all over the Federal Republic.
Corona crisis: vote
Because of the corona crisis: an empty subway in Munich.
© picture alliance / dpa / Matthias Balk
As heidelberg24.de * writes, there is at least one so-called exit ban . This prohibition stipulates that citizens should no longer be allowed to leave their house or apartment.
Which extreme legal scenarios are there without a formal legal curfew ? Paragraph 35 of the Basic Law, the German constitution, regulates the “maintenance or restoration of public security or order” in the event of natural disasters and particularly serious accidents.
Corona curfew: Bundeswehr in German cities?
The paragraph states, among other things, that in addition to the state police, the federal police and the armed forces can also be deployed domestically - since the horrors of the Third Reich, the latter scenario has been particularly sensitive in Germany .
Not intended for domestic use (actually): the German Bundeswehr.
© picture alliance / dpa / Marcel Kusch
"If the natural disaster or the accident threatens the area of more than one country, the Federal Government (...) can use units of the Federal Border Guard and the armed forces to support the police forces", it says in paragraph 3, paragraph 35.
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The corona crisis presents Germany with legal challenges
In France and Belgium , the military has been helping to fight and counter terrorism in the cities for years, and Spain has only mobilized 11,000 soldiers to support rescue workers in the Corona crisis . For the Germans, army vehicles in their streets would be a completely new picture.
Whether this would go hand in hand with a curfew would first have to be clarified legally and legally. Like so much in the time of the corona virus .
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* heidelberg24.de and merkur.de are part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network