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Capital punishment was abolished in West Germany in 1949 and East Germany in 1987. ==Legal position== The current Constitution of Germany ("Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland"), which came into effect on 23 May 1949, forbids capital punishment. This ban is stated in *(article 102 GG ): "Die Todesstrafe ist abgeschafft" - ''Capital punishment is abolished.''〔 (Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland 29.7.2009 ) ( Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (Official english translation Stand 22.09.09) )〕 It is debated among constitutional jurists whether (article 2 section 2 GG ) – "Jeder hat das Recht auf Leben und körperliche Unversehrtheit" (''Every person shall have the right to life and physical integrity'') or indeed human dignity itself ((article 1 section 1 GG )) forbids capital punishment; the latter is mentioned by the German Wikipedia〔German wikipedia article on death penalty during Nazism〕 as ''reigning opinion'',〔German wikipedia article on ''reigning opinion''〕 but seems inconsistent with the fact that article 2 allows exceptions by formal law and, in section 1, similarly guarantees personal freedom (without outlawing prisons).〔The difference is that an amendment of art. 102 "only" requires a two-thirds majority; an amendment of article 2 has the additional psychological barrier of removing a basic right; an amendment of what human dignity guarantees is impossible at all (see (article 79 GG ). Article 102, according to its systematical place, does not guarantee a basic right but enacts a judiciary restriction. That a position obviously not contained in the Basic Law, viz. that capital punishment be a violation of human dignity instead of "only" constitutionally forbidden, has come to be a reigning opinion can be explained by aversion against the death penalty.〕 The Penal Code was formally〔This did not lead to a change of the law-as-in-force itself, which had immediately taken place with the enactment of the Basic Law.〕 amended in 1951 to conform to the abolition. Previous death sentences were replaced by life imprisonment. As the constitution requires that prisoners have a chance of regaining freedom with other means than extralegal pardon only,〔as ruled by the Federal Constitutional Court in BVerfGE (45,147 ) in 1977.〕 prisoners are checked for release on parole after 15 years for regular intervals. Since the introduction of this provision, courts may in extreme cases declare ''special gravity of guilt'' which is meant and popularized as life without parole.〔Though some realistic hope for regaining freedom must still be guaranteed.〕 Although article 21.1 of the constitution of the German state of Hesse provides capital punishment for high crimes, this provision is inoperative due to the federal ban on the death penalty ("Bundesrecht bricht Landesrecht" - Federal law overrides state law.〔(article 31 GG ) It would, of course, also be inactive due to lack of an implementing penal law today.〕). The Bavarian Constitution, while not providing the death penalty by itself, for a long time contained a rule of implementation of it〔''The execution of capital punishment requires previous confirmation by the government'', article 47 IV 2 (old form) of the Bavarian Constitution.〕 which was abrogated in a summary constitutional amendment in 1998. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Capital punishment in Germany」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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