Right to have Rights – The German Constitutional Concept of Human Dignity

Right to have Rights – The German Constitutional Concept of Human Dignity

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Volume 3 Issue 3 ()

The German constitution declares in its first Amendment that human dignity is inviolable and declares its protection a duty of the state. The following text explores the concept of human dignity as “a right to have rights” that can be derived from this constitutional passage. References to different decisions of the German Federal Constitutional Court reveal the importance and complexity of this concept and its meaning for the understanding and interpretation of the German Constitution as such.

Cite as: Christoph Enders, Right to have Rights – The German Constitutional Concept of Human Dignity, 3 NUJS L. Rev. 253 (2010)