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Will the administrative court ("Verwaltungsgericht") promote an "area of freedom, security and justice" with a "guarantee for the principles of democracy and respect for human rights", which EU is building up according to Com 2002/0247 ?

Walter Keim, Email: walter.keim@gmail.com
Torshaugv. 2 C
N-7020 Trondheim, 4. February 2004

Administrative Court
Verwaltungsgericht
Kirchstraße 7
D-10557 Berlin



Case VG 2 A 85.04: Walter Keim vs. Federal Republic of Germany:
Freedom of Information (including access to public documents) and Right to get fair answers to Petitions (Article 17 Basic Law)



I am German citizen and apply for:

  1. The Committee of Petitions has to confirm the receipt of the "Petition on Human Rights Violations in Germany: Invitation of the Human Rights Commissioner" 11 of 21. December 2003.
  2. To sentence the committee of petitions to give a fair answer to petition of 21. December 2001 5 , because there is no answer up to now which is contradictory to Article 17 Basic Law (Right to Petitions).
  3. To sentence the committee of petitions, to give access to documents of exchange of information between ministry and committee of petitions, according to letter of 27. February 20036 . The committee of petitions did not give access and this is in contradiction to Article 5 Basic Law (Freedom of Information) in connection to Article 1 (2) Basic Law (Human Rights), Article 25 Basic Law (International law precedes federal law) and ICCPR8 Article 19 (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR): Human Right Freedom of Information). (This has happened often in several petitionen3 e. g. of 25. October .20014 )
  4. Sentence the ministry of Justice to give access to documents according to application of 16. October 20039 . The rejection violates Article 5 Basic Law (Freedom of Information) in connection to Article 1 (2) Basic Law (Human Rights), Article 25 Basic Law (International law precedes federal law) and ICCP8 Article 19 (ICCPR: Human Right of Freedom of Information).
  5. The lack of Freedom of Information in Germany is unconstitutional because it is in contradiction with Human Rights.
  6. Amount in controversy will be specified looking at international rules, because German bureaucracy has tried to hinder the human rights of access by high costs.

What happened so long?

The complaint to UN on the lack of Freedom of Information in Germany of 18. April 20021 was not processed because:

"Domestic juridical/administrative remedies do not appear to have exhausted ... or showed that remedies would be ... ineffective."12

The constitutional complaint of 5. May 2002 2 was not accepted 28. May 20024 because:

.. in matters of petitions the way to the administrative courts is open. Therefore the complaint cannot be processed, because lower courts are not used sufficiently.
("Ferner dürfte in Petitionsangelegenheiten der Rechtsweg zu den Verwaltungsgerichten geöffnet sein, sodass die von Ihnen vorgetragene Petitionsangelegenheit mangels Rechtswegausschöpfung unzulässig wäre").

Short argumentation

The section about amount in controversy will be translated later. The idea is to follow international rules (access free) and reach the ECHR easy, since there is no human right of access in Germany:

[Leider bin ich aus den einschlägigen Bestimmungen des Gerichtskostengesetzes (z. B. GRK § 13) zur Streitwertbestimmung nicht so richtig klug geworden. Da es das Menschenrecht der allgemeinen Akteneinsicht bisher in Deutschland nicht gibt, ist es für mich schwierig, da was sicheres zu finden in deutschen Gesetzen und Vorschriften. Allerdings hat das Verfassungsgericht folgendermaßen verfahren: Im Brief vom 21.5.02 http://wkeim.bplaced.net/files/020521bvg.pdf wurden gemäß § 4 Absatz 1 und 2 der Justizvollzugskostenordnung (Verordnung über Kosten im Bereich der Justizverwaltung (JVKostO) Vom 14. Februar 1940 (RGBl. I S. 357) (BGBl III 363-1) http://wkeim.bplaced.net/files/JVKostO.htm ) Gebühren vorgeschlagen. Mit Brief vom 10.3.2002 habe ich mir die Freiheit genommen vorzuschlagen lieber internationale Normen anzuwenden. Daraufhin hat das Verfassungsgericht am 4.4.2003 von einer Gebührenerhebung abgesehen. Nach GRK § 13 (1) "ist der Streitwert vorbehaltlich der folgenden Vorschriften nach der sich aus dem Antrag des Klägers für ihn ergebenden Bedeutung der Sache nach Ermessen zu bestimmen." Das Menschenrecht der Akteneinsicht ist für mich eigentlich gratis oder die Kopiekosten werden erhoben.

Die EU Richtlinie über den freien Zugang zu Informationen über die Umwelt (RL 90/313/EWG) wurde in Deutschland verspätet umgesetzt (Frist war der 31.12.1992; das Gesetz wurde erst am 15. Juli 1994 verkündet). Da die Umsetzung zu restriktiv war und versuchte mit hohen Gebühren das Einsichtsrecht zu behindern und damit hinter der Richtlinie zurück fiel hat der Europäische Gerichtshof auf Antrag der EU Kommission Deutschland verurteilt (Rechtssache C-217/97) Anpassungen vorzunehmen. Als Menschenrechtsaktivist würde ich es sicher begrüßen, wenn sich das Verwaltungsgericht da (wie auch das Verfassungsgericht) helfen lässt und den Kampf für Menschenrechte nicht durch hohe Streitwerte negativ beeinflusst, da ja dieses Klage erst beim EGMR Erfolgsaussichten hat. Da bei lege ich zu Grunde, dass sich das Verwaltungsgericht in seinen Handlungen vom Bekenntnis zu den unverletzlichen und unveräußerlichen Menschenrechten als Grundlage jeder menschlichen Gemeinschaft, des Friedens und der Gerechtigkeit in der Welt leiten lässt.]

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU gives Freedom of Information in Article 42, access to documents in Article 41 (2), the right to complain in Article 43 (Ombudsman) and the right to fair answers within reasonable time in Article 41 (1). The "European Codex of Good Administration" defines latest two months to get an answer (Article 17).

As European my opinion is that Germany should respect the fundamental rights of the Charter of the European Union. Unfortunately German administration abuses national sovereignty to deny fundamental rights of the  Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU.

The Committee of Petitions did not answer petition of 21.12.2001 1 with the question of human rights violations see Article 19 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)1 (BGBl. 1973 II S. 1534). This violates. Article 1 (2) Basic Law:

"(2) The German People therefore acknowledge inviolable and inalienable human rights as the basis of every human community, of peace, and of justice in the world."

It is not in accordance with the acknowledgement of human rights, that the committee of  petitions gave no answer at all to the question of human rights violations. The right to petitions is violated (Article 17 Basic Law). Obviously the right of petitions is worthless if you get no answer at all.

Article 5 (1) Basic Law on freedom of expression reads: 

"(1) Everyone has the right to freely express and disseminate his opinion in speech, writing, and pictures and to freely inform himself from generally accessible sources."

Because the committee of petitions 27. February 20036  and the minister of  Justice 16. October 20039 do not provide me with the necessary information I can not judge and fully understand  petition petition of 21. December 2001 5 . The ministry of Interior denied access to documents appied for 4. December 2003. This weakens my communicative Competence, which I need in order to complain to the UN http://wkeim.bplaced.net/files/un-complaint.htm, WHO, Council of Europe and EU 15 .

(...)

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) 8 Article 19 (2), describes the human right of freedom of information, with has the rank of a federal law: 

"(2) Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice." 

None of the exceptions of Article 19 (3) are appropriate in this case:

"(3) The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:

(a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others;

(b) For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals.

The report (UN Doc. E/CN.4/1999/64, para. 12) illustrates that the access to public is included in article 19:

[T]he Special Rapporteur expresses again his view, and emphasizes, that everyone has the right to seek, receive and impart information and that this imposes a positive obligation on States to ensure access to information, particularly with regard to information held by Government in all types of storage and retrieval systems - including film, microfiche, electronic capacities, video and photographs - subject only to such restrictions as referred to in article 19, paragraph 3, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 

 

In Article 1 (2) Basic Law the German people acknowledges human rights.

The relation between International law and federal law is described in Article 25 Basic Law:

"The general rules of international law shall be an integral part of federal law. They shall take precedence over the laws and directly create rights and duties for the inhabitants of the federal territory."

(...)

 

In addition to Freedom of Information Germany violates the Human Rights freedom of opinion, freedom of assembly, and right to fair trial 11 and has been sentenced many time at the European Court of Human Rights.

Detailed Substantiation

A detailed substantiation why the legislative und executive power does not guarantee to always be committed to Human Rights and does not respect the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHRFF), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU is explained in the complaint to UN of 18. April 2002 1 and the complaint to the constitutional court of 5. May 2001 2 .

Summary

...

To sum up one must say that the Germany abuses it's sovereignty to deny Germans the human right of freedom of information. Therefore Germans are second class citizens in the EU. Even worth: EU citizens, who move to Germany loose the human right of freedom of information, which they had in the country they come from. The mothers and fathers of the constitution wrote they were "animated by the purpose to serve world peace as an equal part in a unified Europe," (Preamble Basic Law), not the continuation of authoritan pieces (as the only country in Europe): The "Amtsgeheimnis" (official secrecy) as relict of Prussian authorial state, which puts secrecy higher than democratic participation and human rights of citizens.

This complaint is published here: http://wkeim.bplaced.net/files/verwaltungsgericht-en.htm.

Yours sincerely,


Walter Keim
Torshaugv. 2 C
N-7020 Trondheim
E-Mail: walter.keim@gmail.com
Human Right violations in Germany: http://wkeim.bplaced.net/files/de_human_rights.htm
Support Freedom of Information: http://wkeim.bplaced.net/foil.htm#e-mail
Support Patients' Rights: http://wkeim.bplaced.net/patients.htm#e-mail

Copy: OHCHR-UNOG G/SO 215/51 GERM ES

Result:

Anlagen:

  1. Complaint to UN, dated 18. April 2002: http://wkeim.bplaced.net/petition_un.htm
  2. Constitutional Complaint of 5. May 2002: http://wkeim.bplaced.net/v-klage.htm
  3. Petitions about Patient's Rights and Freedom of Information: http://wkeim.bplaced.net/petitionen.htm
  4. Rejection dated 28 May 2002: http://wkeim.bplaced.net/files/020528bvg.pdf
  5. Petition Informationsfreiheit an den Bundestag vom 21.12.01: http://wkeim.bplaced.net/petition_ifg.htm
  6. Akteneinsicht Petitionsauschuss: http://wkeim.bplaced.net/files/030227pbt.htm
  7. Application to the committee of petitions of 5. April 2002: http://wkeim.bplaced.net/petition3_pa.htm
  8. Internationalen Pakt über bürgerliche und politische Rechte (IPbürgR), (BGBl. 1973 II S. 1534) http://www.vilp.de/localizationfull?id=63&lang=de 
  9. Justizministerium 3.11.2003: http://wkeim.bplaced.net/files/031103bmj.htm
  10. Sozialministerium 10.4.02: http://wkeim.bplaced.net/petition3_smb.htm
  11. Petition Human Rights Violations in Germany: http://wkeim.bplaced.net/petition_me-en.htm
  12. Answer of the UN of 3. June 2002: http://wkeim.bplaced.net/files/020603un.pdf
  13. European network for patients' rights: http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/318/7193/1234/b
  14. Grundgesetz von 1948 (ursprüngliche Fassung): http://www.documentarchiv.de/brd/1949/grundgesetz.html
  15. Complaint to EU: http://wkeim.bplaced.net/files/eu-complaint.htm

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Picture: Dark green: Law in effect. Bright green: Freedom of information in constitution only. Yellow: Pending law. FOIA= Freedom of Information Act

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