The German term Unrechtsstaat (German: [ˈʊnʁɛçt͡sˌʃtaːt] ⓘ; pl. Unrechtsstaaten, German: [ˈʊnʁɛçt͡sˌʃtaːtn̩] ⓘ) is a pejorative approximately meaning "unconstitutional, unjust, undemocratic or unlawful state" used to refer to a state in which the exercise of major aspects of governmental power is not constrained by the law, as opposed to a Rechtsstaat (constitutional state).[1] It is used not only as a jurisprudential term but also as a political one.[2] The origin of the term is attributed to the Prussian Catholic politician Peter Reichensperger, who in 1853 used the term to imply that Prussia would become "unjust" if it curtailed the rights of its Catholic subjects.[3]

Examples

States that have been referred to as an Unrechtsstaat include:

Historical

Current

Connotations

According to lawyer Horst Sendler, an Unrechtsstaat is characterized by a lack of striving for rights and an overall failure to achieve them.[13] At the same time, individual violations of law and constitution do not make a state an Unrechtsstaat, because such violations also occur in a Rechtsstaat.[13] Also, a state should not necessarily be considered an Unrechtsstaat even if it does not correspond with the model of a classical civil Rechtsstaat and in particular the German concept of a Rechtsstaat.[14] On the other hand, the term Unrechtsstaat does not exclude the possibility of instances in which such a state has areas where qualities characteristic of a Rechtsstaat are dominant and where justice is realized in practice.[15] In contrast to this notion of an Unrechtsstaat, Gerd Roellecke holds that the differentiating quality of an Unrechtsstaat is that it does not expect the equality of all people. In contrast with historical Nichtrechtsstaaten (non-Rechtsstaaten), Unrechtsstaaten have the capacity to be Rechtsstaaten after a period of historical development.[16]

The German public is divided on whether to cite the German Democratic Republic (GDR) as an example of Unrechtsstaat.[17] Scholars who view it as such maintain that it is an accurate designation because the state was not based on the rule of law and was unjust.[18] Additionally, the traditional and commemorative practices and framings sanctioned by the German government depict the GDR as an Unrechtsstaat as well as a dictatorship.[19] Others such as members of the left-wing Die Linke party criticize the label and claim that declaring the GDR an Unrechtsstaat is implying that any alternative to the "capitalist" system of Germany is illegitimate, that all laws in the GDR were unjust, and equating the GDR with Nazi Germany.[20]

An Unrechtsstaat may be distinguished from a Verbrecherstaat or 'criminal state', where all the institutions of the state have been seized by a criminal enterprise; in such a case, while the state maintains the nomenclature and appearance of state action, governmental institutions become wholly perverted to serve criminal purposes. A common example of this is Nazi Germany during World War II and the Holocaust. A Verbrecherstaat is described as not a valid state at all, whereas an Unrechtsstaat is a valid state that nominally acknowledges the rule of law, but nevertheless systematically fails to maintain it. The German Federal Constitutional Court, in a series of judgements in the 1950s, established the principle that Nazi Germany should be considered to have been a Verbrecherstaat, since all German governmental institutions, organisations and public servants had been wholly perverted into a power apparatus in the service of the Nazi Party.[21] However, some have criticized this argument as flawed, citing the fact that the Weimar Constitution technically remained in effect throughout the Nazi era from 1933 to 1945, and that Hitler used it to give his dictatorship the appearance of legality, holding three Reichstag elections during his rule, as proof. Regardless, there is no real practical difference between the way an Unrechtsstaat and a Verbrecherstaat treats its own citizens.

References

  1. ↑ Sendler, Horst (1993). "Die DDR ein Unrechtsstaat — ja oder nein? Mißverständnisse um 'Rechtsstaat' und 'Unrechtsstaat'" [East Germany an Unrechtsstaat – yes or no? Misunderstandings around "Rechtsstaat" and "Unrechtsstaat"]. Zeitschrift für Rechtspolitik. 1 (1): 2. JSTOR 23422914.
  2. ↑ Wassermann, Neue Juristische Wochenschrift 1997, 2152 f., 2153
  3. ↑ Heine, Matthias (October 7, 2014). "Seit 1853 fürchten Staatsverbrecher dieses Wort" [State criminals have feared this word since 1853] (in German). Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  4. ↑ Neumann-Bechstein, Wolfgang. (June 22, 2020). "Geschichte Südafrikas: Apartheid". Planet Wissen. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  5. ↑ Krieger, Viktor (December 6, 2018). "A. Deutsche Dissidenten, Oppositionelle und Nonkonformisten im sowjetischen Unrechtsstaat (1950er–1980er Jahre)" [A. German dissidents, oppositionists and nonconformists in the unjust Soviet state (1950s–1980s)] (in German). Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  6. ↑ Brössler, Daniel (March 17, 2021). "Allianz in der Kritik wegen Geld für Belarus". Süddeutsche Zeitung. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Internationaler Tag des verfolgten Anwalts" (January 23, 2019). Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Rechtsstaat und Unrechtsstaat: Begriffsdefinition, Begriffsgenese, aktuelle politische Debatten und Umfragen". 2018. Germany: Bundestag. Retrieved June 8, 2021. p. 15
  9. ↑ "Asylberechtigung nach illegaler Ausreise aus Myanmar" [Eligibility for asylum after illegal departure from Myanmar] (in German). December 6, 2008. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  10. ↑ Ultsch, C. (January 18, 2021). "Paranoide Panik im russischen Unrechtsstaat". Die Presse. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Iran ist ein Unrechtsstaat" [Iran is an unjust state] (in German). June 27, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Syriens Unterdrückungsapparat vor Gericht" [Syria's repressive apparatus on trial] (in German). April 22, 2020. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  13. 1 2 Sendler, Zeitschrift für Rechtspolitik 1993, 1 ff., 4
  14. ↑ Sendler, ZRP 1993, 1 ff., 3
  15. ↑ Sendler, Neue Justiz, 1991, 379 ff., 380
  16. ↑ Roellecke, Gerd (June 15, 2009). "War die DDR ein Unrechtsstaat?". FAZ. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
  17. ↑ Bernhard, Michael H.; Kubik, Jan (2014). Twenty Years After Communism: The Politics of Memory and Commemoration. New York: Oxford University Press, USA. p. 271. ISBN 9780199375134.
  18. ↑ Bernhard, Michael H.; Kubik, Jan (2014). Twenty Years After Communism: The Politics of Memory and Commemoration. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 206. ISBN 9780199375134.
  19. ↑ Davidson, Tonya K.; Park, Ondine; Shields, Rob (2013). Ecologies of Affect: Placing Nostalgia, Desire, and Hope. Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. p. 39. ISBN 9781554582587.
  20. ↑ Grossman, V. (2014, December 7). "The Red-Red-Green Victory in Thuringia". MR Online. Retrieved March 18, 2022./
  21. ↑ Douglas, Lawrence (2019). "From the Sentimental Story of the State to the Verbrecherstaat, Or, the Rise of the Atrocity Paradigm". The New Histories of International Criminal Law. Oxford University Press. pp. 54–71. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198829638.003.0004. ISBN 978-0-19-882963-8.
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