Federal Constitutional Court -- Federal Republic of Germany

This two-volume set contains English translations of the Federal Constitutional Court decisions in the area of freedom of speech. They include leading cases on freedom of opinion and artistic expression, freedom of the press, and freedom of broadcasting and communication, together with the Court's most important decisions on freedom of assembly and association. The case law on the fundamental rights protected under Article 5 of the Basic Law paradigmatically explains the genesis of the Basic Law and the historical background to its interpretation. Furthermore, it attests to the readiness of the Germans to learn from the failure of the Weimar Republic and the reign of terror between 1933 and 1945. This case law starting with the Lüth Case (1958) and concluding with the Auschwitz Denial Case (1994) — keenly illustrates how the Court has tried to grapple with a disastrous past. Other decisions underscore the highs and lows of German politics, prominent examples of which are the Spiegel Case and the Blinkfüer Case. The latter recalls the memory of the Cold War and the challenges it brought to the liberal democratic state based on the rule of law and to the realization of freedom of expression in Germany.