by dvx
Thu Nov 13th, 2008 at 08:08:21 AM EST
Well, the debate is over, dissent is no longer allowed, and the parliamentary members of the grand coalition have been compelled to do their duty.
| Opposition kündigt Widerstand an: Bundestag beschließt BKA-Gesetz - Inland - Politik - FAZ.NET | | Opposition vows to resist: Bundestag enacts new Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) law |
| 13. November 2008 Nach jahrelangem Streit hat der Bundestag das Gesetz zur Erweiterung der Befugnisse des Bundeskriminalamts (BKA) gegen den Widerstand der Opposition verabschiedet. 375 Abgeordnete stimmten am Mittwoch für das Gesetz, 168 dagegen, sechs enthielten sich. Der Gesetzentwurf, den die große Koalition eingebracht hat, überträgt dem BKA Kompetenzen zur Terrorabwehr und ermöglicht unter anderem die Videoüberwachung von Wohnungen und die Online-Durchsuchung privater Computer. Die Grünen kündigten Klage vor dem Bundesverfassungsgericht an. | | 13 November 2008 After years of dispute, the German Bundestag passed the new law to expand the authority of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) in the face of the oppposition. 375 representatives voted for the bill on Wednesday, 168 against and six abstained. The bill introduced by the grand coalition grants the BKA authority to combat terror and among other things permits video surveillance of private homes and online searches of private computers. The Greens announced that they would bring an action before the Federal Constitutional Court. |
Promoted with slight edit by DoDo
| Bundesinnenminister Schäuble (CDU) setzte sich im Bundestag noch einmal mit Nachdruck für das Gesetz ein, das nach langem Ringen der Koalitionspartner CDU/CSU und SPD zustande gekommen war. Der SPD-Politiker Hofmann lobte es als ,,das modernste und rechtstaatlich anspruchsvollste Gesetz in Europa". Die Opposition warnte hingegen vor einem tiefgreifenden Eingriff in das bestehende Rechtssystem. ,,Das BKA bekommt als Polizeibehörde geheimdienstliche Methoden", sagte der FDP-Innenpolitiker Stadler. Auch einzelne Abgeordnete der SPD stimmten - hauptsächlich wegen der Online-Durchsuchung - gegen das Gesetz. | | In the Bundestag debate, Interior Minister Schäuble (CDU) once more strenuously advocated the bill, which was arrived at only after lengthly discussions between coalition partners CDU/CSU and SPD. SPD member Hofmann praised it as "the most modern and respectful of due process of [any] law [of its kind] in Europe". But the opposition warned of major breaks with the existing legal system. "The BKA as a police agency is being equipped with the methods of intelligence services," said FDP internal affairs speaker Stadler. Individual SPD members also voted against the act, primarily on account of the online searches. |
| Schäuble sagte, die Grundrechte des freiheitlichen Rechtsstaates bedürften des Schutzes. Die insbesondere von den Grünen geäußerten Vorwürfe seien eine Beleidigung für die Polizei. Nichts werde den Ländern weggenommen, sondern das BKA bekomme Befugnisse hinzu. Es sei nicht hinzunehmen, ,,unseren freiheitlichen Verfassungsstaat so zu diffamieren, dass junge Leute denken, es handle sich um so was wie die Stasi", sagte Schäuble. | | Schäuble said that the basic rights of a freedom-oriented nation founded on due process required this protection. He characterized the accusations of the Greens in particular as libel against the police. He added that no powers of the states would be usurped, rather the BKA would receive further powers. He continued, "It is unacceptable that our freedom-oriented constitutional state is defamed in such a manner that young people believe it is akin to the Stasi," said Schäuble. |
Poor baby, and so sensitive too. That last remark would seem to indicate that this viral graphic has struck home:
- get it here!
So the last line of defense will be the Federal Constitutional Court. Fortunately, they tend to take their job seriously, as in (to name just one example) this case in 2005:
German court rules against state's wiretap law - International Herald Tribune
BERLIN: Germany's highest court has struck down a state law permitting wiretapping that supporters said would have let the police maintain closer surveillance of potential terrorists and other dangerous criminals.
The German Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday against a state law in Lower Saxony that permitted wiretapping even when there was no concrete evidence that a crime was being planned, calling it an unconstitutional infringement of civil liberties.
"The loss of constitutionally guaranteed freedoms must not be disproportionate to the aims served by the limitation of basic rights," the court's judgment said.
This isn't over yet.
