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The Basic Law
THE BASIC LAW which was draft-
ed by the Parliamentary Council
at Bonn and ratified by the state
legislatures-the elected representa-
tives of the people of western Ger-
many-was evolved through demo-
cratic exchange of views and reason-
able compromise both by the German
political parties and by the Western
Allies. It introduces a new stage in
Germany's postwar political develop-
ment.
As General Lucius D. Clay said
shortly before his departure for the
United States, "Germany now has the
framework for a democratic govern-
ment with sufficient power in the
federal government to serve as an
adequate national regime, but with
sufficient power left in the hands of
the individual states to prevent a
dangerous   over-centralization  of
authority."
Equally important is ithe fact that
the Basic Law gives not only the in-
dividual states but the individual
citizen abundant guarantees of fun-
damental rights and privileges.
Its first 19 articles offer unequivocal
legal support to all those human
rights which are indispensable to a
free and progressive society. Pro-
tection against arbitrary imprison-
ment; equality before the law; equal
rights for men and women; freedom
of religious worship; freedom  of
speech and of lawful assembly; free-
dom of art and science, of research
and teaching-these are some of the
liberties guaranteed to every citizen
of the Federal Republic.
T OGETHER with the federal char-
Tacter of the national govern-
ment soon to be established, they are
a measure of the progress western
Germany has achieved in destroying
the bases of dictatorial rule and
guarding against its return in any
form. Whatever changes may ulti-
mately be made in the structure of
This explanation of the Basic law is
from the translated text of the OMGUS
broadcast on May 19 over the German
radios to the residents of the US Zone.
The highlights of the law were prepared
and issued by the Public Information
Office, OMGUS. Copies of the authorized
Anglo-American translation of the law,
reproduced from the original on pages
29 to 33, were furnished by the Press
Branch, CCG (BE).
the German government, those fun-
.damental rights must remain the foun-
dation of any democratic regime.
In the last: analysis, they can be
maintained -only by the people
themselves. That this is widely un-
derstood  in  eastern  as well as
western Germany may be seen in the
attitude of eastern Germans toward
the recent elections in their zone. The
people made it clear that they will
not accept rhetoric and 'slogans as
adequate substitutes for true. demo-
cracy.,
The emphasis placed upon. demo-
cratic liberties- at Bonn was un-
doubtedly one of the factors that
enabled the Western Allies to pro-
claim the Occupation Statute, which
will go into effect upon the- establish-
ment of the Federal Republic. It was
to promote and protect these rights,
also, that the democratic powers issu-
ed recently the so-called "little Oc-
cupation Statute" for the western sec-
tors of Berlin. This declaration adapts
the principles of the western German
statute to the special conditions of
Berlin.
It extends wide authority to the
legally elected municipal government.
It abolishes the procedure by which
the city authorities had to obtain
prior approval for their measures from
the Military Governments, and it
eliminates the rule requiring that
decisions of the Military Governments
must be unanimous. And like the
Occupation Statute for western Ger-
many, it guarantees the basic rights
of the people whom it affects.
B ERLIN, although not now in a
position to participate fully in the
new German government, nevertheless
already enjoys the same freedom as
the federal Basic Law and the Oc-
cupation Statute provide for western
Germany.
Thus, only four years after the total
collapse of German political life, two-
thirds of the German people are free
to exercise wide powers of self-
government. It is natural that they,
in common with the Western Allies,
should wish to see this right extended
to the rest of Germany. A unified
and democratic Germany has been the
consistent aim of the western oc-
cupation powers, and the adoption of
the Basic Law does not mean that the
Western Allies have ceased to strive
New Flag of Federal
Republic of Germany
for political and economic arrangements
covering all Germany.
On the contrary, the three Western
Powers have made a new effort in this
direction. But they must protect the
great political and economic gains
achieved in Western Germany'and the
unification  of  :Germany  would,
therefore, have to be based on free
institutions, It is equally. clear that
in adhering to this policy the dem-
ocratic powers are supporting the
desire and the best interests of the
German people.
Germans know that the next urgent
task in political reconstruction is to
push forward their reabsorption into
the European community. And this
goal can be reached only by a Ger-
many which has demonstrated that
whatever its problems may be, it is
determined to solve them without
sacrificing democratic liberties. For
this' Germany, developing in the
spirit of the federal Basic Law and
intent upon peaceful cooperation with
its neighbors for the greater welfare
of all, there is a respected place among
the free nations o'f 'the world.
A summary of highlights with ref-
erences to articles and paragraphs
as an aid in studying the 146-article
document follows. Reference is made
to the articles and paragraphs on
which each highlight is based. For
example: (23-2) after a statement
below means that it is based on Ar-
ticle 23, paragraph 2 of the draft of
the Basic Law. The full text of the
official Anglo-American version is
reproduced on pages 29 to 33.
States  affected-Baden,  Bavaria,
Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower
Saxony,   North  Rhine-Westphalia,
Rhineland-Palatinate,  Sch'leswig-Hol-
stein, Wuerttemberg-Baden, Wuert-
temberg-Hohenzollern (preamble) (see
map inside back cover).
(Continued on next page)
JUNE 14, 1949
INFORMATION BULLETIN
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