Phassakorn Sukjan*
(Panelists: Left Dr. Duc Quang Ly (Moderator), Right Prof Dr. Rainer Hofmann)
On 14th June 2024, the HDFF team attended an expert talk in the context of the 75th anniversary of the German Basic Law with the topic “The First Line of Right Defense in Germany: The Concept of Human Dignity in the Basic Law” organized by the Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance (CPG). The guest speaker was Professor Dr. Rainer Hofmann from the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main.
The opening session was conducted by Dr. Duc Quang Ly as the moderator from CPG to welcome Prof Rainer Hofmann to be the guest speaker for the event.
Prof Dr. Rainer Hofmann started explaining the historical starting point of the German Basic Law (Grundgesetz) which was adopted in 1949 as an implementation of a basic law that emphasizes “Human Dignity” as the most important element. Therefore, the Basic Law Article 1 mentions that Human Dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authorities. This is covered by Article 79(3) of Basic Law which describes that the legislature shall be bound by the constitutional order, the executive and the judiciary by law and justice. As a result, certain fundamental structures of basic law cannot be amended by the powers vested in the parliament. For instance, basic principles of the Basic Law like the republic, democracy, rule of law, federal and welfare state are guaranteed by Article 20 of the Basic Law. It also states that authority is derived from the people and shall be exercised by the people through specific legislative, executive and judicial bodies.
Prof. Dr. Hofmann pointed out that this concept principle implies inter alia guarantee of equality of all human beings irrespective: of belief, color, gender, race, religion, social or any status also the provision of necessary elements of basic livelihood. Then Prof Dr. Hofmann moved to the case of criminal justice. Afterward, he continued on basic rights regarding the protection of personal identity and integrity, medicine, and bioethics.
Lastly, Prof. Dr. Hofmann explained the concept of human dignity in the European Constitutional Area and that the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) did not refer to human dignity until it had been added in 2002 in the context of the 13th additional protocol on the Abolition of Capital Punishment. It strongly increased the reference to human dignity in the jurisprudence of the ECHR with respect to core rights such as Article 2 on the right to life, Article 3 on the prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, and Article 4 on the prohibition of slavery and forced labor. Lastly, after finishing his presentation, he moved to a Q&A session and closed the conference.
HDFF would like to thank CPG for the invitation and Prof. Dr. Rainer Hofmann for giving a special expert talk. HDFF team is looking forward to attending other events hosted by CPG.
Bangkok, June 2024
*Phassakorn Sukjan is a Program Assistant at HDFF.
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