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Federal administrative court: Bundeswehr soldiers must obey vaccination orders

2021-01-18T17:04:45.027Z


The Federal Administrative Court decided that members of the Bundeswehr are subject to a "military duty to maintain health." A sergeant major was arrested because he did not want the basic vaccination.


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Vaccination (symbolic image of a flu vaccination)

Photo: MATTHIAS RIETSCHEL / AP

Soldiers must be vaccinated on command.

If they refuse, there is a breach of service.

This can be punished with a disciplinary measure, decided the Federal Administrative Court in a decision that has now been announced

(file number: 2 WNB 8.20)

.

According to the Leipzig judges, the duty to tolerate the usual vaccinations is "part of the military's duty to maintain health."

In the specific case it was about a sergeant major who received the order for a basic military vaccination.

This is intended for all soldiers and includes protection against classic pathogens such as tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough.

The Covid-19 vaccination has not yet been included.

The sergeant major refused the vaccination order.

His asthma and eczema were due to previous vaccinations, he said.

He feared serious health damage from the vaccination ordered.

No basic right to physical self-determination for soldiers?

The attending troop doctors considered the concerns to be unfounded.

When the soldier repeatedly refused to give the order to attend the vaccination appointment, he was given eight days of disciplinary detention.

Both the competent troop service court and now the 2nd Military Service Senate of the Federal Administrative Court considered the arrest to be lawful.

In this context, soldiers are likely to be treated differently than other citizens.

Because for them a "soldier's duty to maintain health" applies.

The basic right to physical self-determination is restricted for them.

The idea behind this is that if communicable diseases spread, the Bundeswehr's readiness for action could be considerably weakened.

Only if the vaccination is objectively associated with a significant risk to the life and health of the affected soldier is it unreasonable, the decision that the judges made on December 22, 2020.

The soldier's individual assessment does not matter, as otherwise the functionality of the Bundeswehr would be endangered.

Soldiers would also have to accept considerable health risks for professional reasons when fulfilling orders.

However, individual concerns of the soldier could play a role in the assessment of the service offense and thus in the amount of the sentence.

Here the superior had taken into account the »subjective stressful situation of the sergeant major« by imposing only a simple disciplinary punishment.

In other cases of repeated refusal to obey orders, judicial disciplinary proceedings are usual, which are associated with much higher penalties.

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mamk / JurAgentur

Source: spiegel

All business articles on 2021-01-18

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