COVID-19 and the Federal State

Hofmann, Ekkehard

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-13901-7_5

COVID-19 and the Federal State

The German Experience

Ekkehard Hofmann³

Chapter
First Online: 15 October 2022

115 Accesses

Abstract

After almost two years through the pandemic, COVID-19 has proven to be a considerable and specific challenge for liberal states such as the Federal Republic of Germany. Its constitution requires state actors on all levels to take action to protect its citizens against risks entailed by infectious diseases, but also to respect the rule of law and fundamental rights, data protection legislation and institutional arrangements, particularly the relationship between the central level (“Bund”) and the states (“Länder”). As it turns out, this federalist structure does not provide for an adequate legal framework when it comes to global pandemics such as COVID-19.

Keywords

Federalism
COVID-19
Germany
Constitution
Extremism

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Notes

1.
Beckmann, UPR (2021), pp. 241, 249.
2.
McKeever (2020) https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/06/why-germanys-coronavirus-strategy-doesnt-appear-to-be-working.html. Accessed 31 May 2022.
3.
For this proposal, see https://www.ndr.de/nocovid100.pdf. Accessed 15 March 2022; it argues along the lines of Pueyo (2021), s. https://tomaspueyo.medium.com/coronavirus-the-hammer-and-the-dance-be9337092b56. Accessed 31 May 2022.
4.
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_gg/englisch_gg.html#p0321. Accessed 31 May 2022.
5.
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_gg/englisch_gg.html#p0321. Accessed 31 May 2022.
6.
Gesetz zur Verhütung und Bekämpfung von Infektionskrankheiten beim Menschen (Infektionsschutzgesetz – IfSG, G. v. 20.7.2000 BGBl. I S. 1045; last amended by Article 8 G. v. 27.09.2021 BGBl. I S. 4530. Essential Parts of the FIDA have been approved by the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht), judgment dated 19 November 2021, 1 BvR 781/21, http://www.bverfg.de/e/rs20211119_1bvr078121.html. Accessed 31 May 2022.
7.
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_gg/englisch_gg.html#p0321. Accessed 31 May 2022.
8.
Lang et al. (2021) https://www.twobirds.com/de/news/articles/2021/germany/covid-19-verordnungen-und-verfuegungen-bl. Accessed 31 May 2022.
9.
Steiner, DVP (2021), p. 257.
10.
Art. 125a Sec. 1 GG; Steiner, DVP (2021), p. 258.
11.
Figures according to Behnke, APuZ (2020), p. 13.
12.
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_gg/englisch_gg.html#p0321. Accessed 31 May 2022.
13.
Dreier, DÖV (2021), pp. 229, 240; Kersten and Rixen (2020), p. 121; Ritgen, ZG (2021), pp. 1, 13; Wissenschaftliche Dienste des Deutschen Bundestags, Staatsorganisation und § 5 IfSG, Ausarbeitung v. 2.4.2020, WD 3 - 3000 -080/20, 10.
14.
https://www.einreiseanmeldung.de. Accessed 31 May 2022.
15.
https://hessen.de/sites/hessen.hessen.de/files/2021-10/lf_coschuv_stand_25.09.21.pdf. Accessed 31 May 2022.
16.
https://www.hessen.de/Handeln/Corona-in-Hessen. Accessed 31 May 2022.
17.
Sec. 4 Subsec. 1 No. 5 Coronavirus-Impfverordnung – CoronaImpfV, 31.3.2021, BAnz AT 01.04.2021 V1.
18.
https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&time=2020-03-01..latest&facet=none&pickerSort=desc&pickerMetric=total_cases&hideControls=true&Metric=Confirmed+cases&Interval=7-day+rolling+average&Relative+to+Population=true&Align+outbreaks=false&country=GBR~DEU~FRA~GRC. Accessed 31 May 2022.
19.
Giesberts et al. NVwZ (2020), pp. 417, 418.
20.
https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations. Accessed 31 May 2022.
21.
Kloepfer, VerwArch (2021), pp. 169, 199; Kersten and Rixen (2021), p. 115; Dreier, DÖV (2021), pp. 229, 231.
22.
Dreier, DÖV (2021), pp. 229, 231.
23.
Lepsius, Recht und Politik (2020), pp. 258, 268.
24.
Papier, APuZ (2020), pp. 4, 8.
25.
Kloepfer, VerwArch (2021), pp. 169, 199; Kersten and Rixen (2021), p. 115; Behnke, APuZ (2020), pp. 9, 12; Lepsius, Recht und Politik (2020), pp. 258, 264; Gusy, Recht und Politik (2020), pp. 139, 141.
26.
Ritgen, ZG (2021), pp. 1, 10.
27.
Ritgen, ZG (2021), pp. 1, 1.
28.
Kloepfer, VerwArch (2021), pp. 169, 199.
29.
Behnke, APuZ (2020), pp. , 9, 14.
30.
Gusy, DÖV (2021), pp. 757, 761.
31.
Although advocates for a federalist system, Kersten and Rixen (2021), p. 119, admit this; s. also Steiner, DVP (2021), pp. 257, 259.
32.
Kersten and Rixen (2021), p. 120.
33.
Kersten and Rixen (2021), p. 121.
34.
Also Hans Hofmann, ZG (2/2021), pp. 109, 129.

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Faculty of Law, University of Trier, Trier, Germany
Ekkehard Hofmann

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Faculty of Law, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Kostas Chrysogonos
Faculty of Law, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Anna Tsiftsoglou

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Hofmann, E. (2022). COVID-19 and the Federal State. In: Chrysogonos, K., Tsiftsoglou, A. (eds) Democracy after Covid. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13901-7_5

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13901-7_5
Published: 15 October 2022
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-13900-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-13901-7
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