Howard M. Friedman (LexBlog Germany)
-
German Federal Court Refuses To Order Removal Of Medieval Antisemitic Sculpture
As reported by AP, Germany’s Federal Court of Justice yesterday refused to order a Wittenberg church where Martin Luther once preached to remove a 730-year old antisemitic sandstone relief carved on the outside of the church. The sculpture is known as the “Judensau” or “Jew pig”. A display explaining the history of antisemitism in Germany was...
-
Supreme Court: FSIA Shields Germany From Suit Over Nazi Takings of German-Jewish Property
Yesterday in Federal Republic of Germany v. Philipp, (Sup. Ct., Feb. 3, 2021), the U.S Supreme Court held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) precludes plaintiffs from filing suit in U.S. courts to recover for Jewish property taken by the Nazi government from German nationals. Plaintiffs sued over the Nazi government’s coercing a consortium of...
-
German Top Court Upholds Hijab Ban For Legal Interns Involved In Official Proceedings
In a decision handed down last month, but not published until yesterday, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court in a 7-1 decision rejected a challenge by a legal intern to the requirement that she remove her hijab when involved in court hearings. The full decision in German is here. In a press release, the court summarized the decision:...
-
German Top Court Upholds Hijab Ban For Legal Interns Involved In Official Proceedings
In a decision handed down last month, but not published until yesterday, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court in a 7-1 decision rejected a challenge by a legal intern to the requirement that she remove her hijab when involved in court hearings. The full decision in German is here. In a press release, the court summarized the decision:...
-
European Court Says Conviction For Holocaust Denial Does Not Violate Free Speech Rights
In Pastors v. Germany, (ECHR, Oct. 3, 2019), the European Court of Human Rights in a chamber judgment rejected claims by the chairman of the National Democratic Party of Germany that his criminal conviction for a speech he gave in the Land Parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania violated his free expression rights under Art. 10 of the...
-
German Court Says Sikhs Not Exempt From Motorcycle Helmet Law
DW reports that Germany’s Federal Administrative Court has ruled that religious freedom objections are not sufficient to exempt Sikhs from Germany’s law requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets. According to DW: The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig rejected a Sikh man’s appeal, who had argued that the helmet would not fit over his turban. “People wearing...
-
Bavarian Court Upholds Ban On Judges and Prosecutors Wearing Hijab
In Germany, Bavaria’s constitutional court yesterday upheld a Bavarian law banning judges and prosecutors from wearing religious symbols in the courtroom. The court said that officials administering justice have a special obligation to be neutral in religion and ideology. The ban was challenged a Muslim group that objected to the ban’s application to the wearing...
-
European Court Upholds Removal of Children From Home Schooling
In Wunderlich v. Germany, (ECHR, Jan. 10, 2019), the European Court of Human Rights in a Chamber Judgment upheld Germany’s three-week removal of four children from their parents’ home after the parents insisted on home schooling them and refused to send them to state schools. The court held that there was no violation of Art. 8...